Within Temptation
by soccergurl382
Summary: Vanessa, the new girl at Spencers has alot of secrets to hide and some hiding to do herself. When Vanessa finds herself infatuated with a son of Ipswhich not only is she putting him in danger but herself. Chapter 25 is up! COMPLETED!
1. Chapter 1

Vanessa Turner rolled her dark brown eyes and complained "Why do I have to go to that school?"

"Because. It's the farthest away we could get you. They won't be able to find you there," Selene said for the thousandth time.

Vanessa simply sighed and stormed off to her room to finish packing her things. This was **not** the way she had planned on living.

Vanessa pulled into the student parking lot just as most classes were getting out. She quickly parked her red Ferrari and got out, glancing at the many suitcases that filled her back seat. Fixing her hair in her mirror Vanessa put on her most confident face and strutted to the entrance of Spencer Academy.

She noticed the amount of heads that she had turning and smirked to herself. It was hard for most people not to. With Vanessa's chest length dark brown hair, tanned skin and stunning figure she was a sight for sore eyes. Vanessa had on her worn down jean mini-skirt and a green halter top that stopped right before her belly button ring. Her toned stomach showed. Even though she knew she would be scolded once she reached the office Vanessa didn't care, she was never a fan of rules.

Keeping up with her strut that made everyone stare, Vanessa reached the main office. She pushed open the door and walked over to the secretary. 

"Excuse me..." Vanessa started but then got cut off by the women at the desk.

"Hold on dear" She held up a finger and then hung up the phone. "What can I do for you?" She asked putting on a smile.

"Well Im new and..." Vanessa got interrupted again. Seriously, this woman had to stop cutting her off.

"Vanessa Turner?" She asked.

"Yes." Vanessa decided to keep her answers short. She didn't want to be cut off again in fear of loosing her cool.

"We've been expecting you. Actually, we were hoping you would have showed up earlier this morning but its okay. You're here now," she said with a smile that made Vanessa want to smack her upside the head. The secretary pulled out a folder and placed it in front of Vanessa, opening it up. "Im Iris by the way," she said looking up at Vanessa then back down at the paper work. "This is your class schedule, map of the campus and room number with key," she said handing her a gold key. "Any questions just come to me," Iris said.

Vanessa put on a fake smile. "Sure thing."

The phone rang and Iris excused herself to answer it. Vanessa turned around and rolled her eyes.

Vanessa walked out of the office and slid her black Chanel sunglasses over her face.

"So room 207," she said looking at the paper work. She tucked the folder underneath her arm and started to walk down the corridor.

It wasn't long before Vanessa reached her room to find most of her belongings already there, thanks to Selene and company.

She walked over to her bed to find a white envelope with the name Vanessa written neatly on the front. Vanessa opened it without trouble and read the note carefully.

Vanessa,

If you need anything or feel you are in need of my assistance just call me. I'll be keeping a close eye on you as it is.

Selene

Why they were so protective, Vanessa had no idea. But sometimes it bugged the living shit out of her. She was 17 years old; she could take care of herself. Vanessa started to think about the advice Selene had given her before she had left. _"Trust nobody and don't get attached to anyone."_ The words started ringing in her ears. Vanessa knew the prophecy but at the same time she was also only a 17 year old girl. Who should be hanging out with friends and be out partying by the way, but she had more on her plate then she could handle. Hence the reason she was constantly running and never had time to make friends in the first place.

Vanessa plopped down on her bed and sighed. Her silver amulet hung from her neck, indicating her destiny. Shouldn't she take the necklace off? Wouldn't it be easier for them to spot her with clear indication of who she was? She decided to ask Selene the next time she talked with her. In the mean time she started to unpack.

**2 Hours Later…**

Vanessa sat down on her chair and pulled out her cell phone. She didn't know who she was going to call so she flipped it shut and sighed. Being on the run half her life was hard work, and was doing some serious damage on her social life. Memories started flooded back to her about the times that she had almost been caught, when she had almost…

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knocking noise at her door. _Who is that_? Vanessa thought to herself. She knew that she had no roommate; Selene had made sure of that. Vanessa walked over to answer it anyhow. She swung the door open and revealed a blonde girl.

"Hi. Im Sarah Wenham," the girl said with a smile and extended her hand.

For a minute there, Vanessa just stared at the girl with a puzzled look on her face. This girl was being so friendly, yet had no idea who Vanessa was.

"Vanessa," she said shaking the girl's hand.

"Well I know your new and all, so I was asked to show you around. You know, help you out," Sarah said with a smile.

Vanessa thought about what Selene had said. Then started to think, it's not going to hurt to get shown around.

"Uh...Okay," Vanessa said.

Sarah smiled with satisfaction. "Great. So I was thinking I could show you around now if you're not too busy unpacking or anything."

Vanessa turned to look back into her room. Only 1 suitcase remained. She figured she could do it later. "Nope. Im all done packing," Vanessa replied with a shrug.

"Awesome. I can give you a tour then we'll meet up with the gang either at Nicky's or out front," Sarah informed Vanessa.

"Sounds like a plan. Just let me change real quick okay?" Vanessa said holding up a finger to make Sarah wait.

"Okay," Sarah said with a shrug.

Vanessa turned around and realized it might be rude to leave Sarah standing in the hall. "Umm…you can come in if you want," Vanessa suggested.

Sarah smiled and walked into the room. "Wow. You have a lot of cool stuff," she said looking around the room in which Vanessa had only half-unpacked.

She smiled politely and said thanks. Vanessa walked over to her closet. She still had a suitcase full of clothes but knew she would look good in anything. She pulled out a different top, deciding that the skirt she had on commented her just fine.

"That's an adorable top," Sarah commented.

Vanessa looked up from admiring the top herself. "Thanks," she said with a grin.

She went into the bathroom to touch up on her make-up and slide the new top on. When Vanessa walked out Sarah smiled. "You look awesome. God, I wish I could look that good all the time," Sarah gushed.

Vanessa gave a satisfying smile. "Thanks. But I guess it's in my genes." She did a little twirl.

"That dark red looks really good on you."

Vanessa looked at herself in the mirror. Admiring her dark red halter top and worn out jean mini-skirt that was barely there, her black high heels that had straps slithering up her toned calves. Once snapped out of it Vanessa looked over at Sarah. "Ready?" She asked.

"Uh huh," She answered.

They walked out of her room after Vanessa had grabbed her keys and cell phone. Playing with the keys in her hand Sarah had began the tour.

"So you obviously know that this is the dorms. Most people stay here, very few don't," she said matter-of-factly.

Vanessa nodded and pretended to listen. She couldn't really pay attention to something that she already knew, it bored her. Vanessa had spent hours being taught the school grounds and where everything was located so she was certain not get lost. The tour passed by quickly, every once in a while Vanessa nodded to fool Sarah that she was listening. Vanessa knew she should have been listening instead of being rude, but ignored the guilt and just looked around.

"Anyways… that's Spencer's Academy for you," Sarah finished stopping in her tracks to turn and face Vanessa with a smile.

"Yeah thanks." Vanessa had snapped out of it just in time.

"Ready for Nicky's?" Sarah asked with a mischievous grin on her face.

Vanessa grinned. She knew what Nicky's was and where it was. "I sure am. But do you mind if I drive myself?" Vanessa hoped that Sarah wouldn't question her.

"Yeah no problem." Sarah nodded with understandment. "Caleb's picking me up anyway so it's all good. You know where it is?" Sarah asked.

"I do," Vanessa stated. "Who's Caleb?" She questioned.

Sarah gave a little smile. "My boyfriend."

"Cute," Vanessa noted.

"Okay. Well I have to meet Caleb. So I'll see you there?" Sarah confirmed while walking away backwards.

Vanessa nodded and turned to walk to her car.


	2. Chapter 2

Vanessa drove in her car to the sound of Good Charlotte blaring through her speakers. A lot was on her mind and music practically blowing her ear drums tended to make her not able to think. She turned into the parking lot of Nicky's and turned the music down one or two notches. The dirt underneath her wheels made a noise that for some strange reason, soothed her.

She got out of the car and took a deep breath. Vanessa made sure her confidence level was way up there, but not too cocky. When she wasn't confident she tended to be vulnerable. Which, wasn't that often but wasn't good when it did occur.

Walking into Nicky's with the same strut she had performed at school Vanessa was quickly turning heads.

"So you guys have to be nice okay?" Sarah pleaded to the guys plus Kate.

"Sarah, don't worry everything will be fine. I'm sure she's a sweet girl," Kate insisted.

Caleb smiled to reassure Sarah.

"I know. But I know what it's like to be the new girl," Sarah explained.

Reid smirked. "Yeah and we liked you just fine."

Vanessa looked around for Sarah. Oh God, she didn't want to look like she was having a hard time. She decided it was best to walk around and if she spotted Sarah then that was great. Until then she would walk around like she knew the place.

Luckily, the blonde spotted Vanessa first.

"Vanessa! Over here!" Sarah yelled over to Vanessa.

Once Vanessa heard her name she looked to where the sound was coming from and walked over with a grin on her face.

"Hey Sarah," Vanessa said with a smile.

"She's hot," Reid whispered to Tyler and he nodded his head in agreement unable to tare his eyes away from Vanessa.

"This is-," Sarah started but then got interrupted by Vanessa herself.

"Vanessa," She finished Sarah's sentence. "Whom just so happens to have excellent hearing." She looked over at Reid who gaped at her in disbelief that she heard him.

Tyler started to laugh and Reid hit him upside the head. "Hey!" He yelled.

Vanessa laughed along with everyone else.

"Vanessa, this is Kate Tunney." She pointed to the girl with mocha colored skin and dark brown hair.

Vanessa nodded and smiled.

"Caleb Danvers, Pogue Perry, Tyler Sims and Reid Garwin," Sarah finished going around the circle.

"We're gonna play some pool," Tyler said standing up and stretching his arms behind his head.

"Care to join us Vanessa?" Reid asked.

"Tempting….but no thanks," Vanessa said with a little laugh.

Clearly Reid was unsatisfied with Vanessa's response as his facial expression changed slightly.

Reid and Tyler left to go play with Aaron and the boys. Vanessa noticed the other group of guys and leaned over to Sarah.

"Who's that?" Vanessa asked pointing to Aaron.

Sarah gave a laugh of disgust. "Aaron Abott. I suggest you stay away from him. He's a total prick."

Vanessa laughed. "Whatever you say Sarah."

"So where did you move here from?" Pogue asked while taking off his leather jacket and draping it around the back of his chair.

Vanessa hesitated slightly to find an answer. "Washington," She said simply.

"You sure about that?" Caleb asked jokingly.

Vanessa couldn't help but laugh at this one. "Well I move around a lot so sometimes it's hard to remember where I just came from," She confessed.

"That sucks. Is it because of your parents' jobs?" Kate asked.

"My parents are dead," Vanessa responded. Crap, was she supposed to say that? Too much info? "So I live with a godparent," She said finally. At least that was only half a lie. Selene had been chosen to keep the closest eye on her after her parents' death 3 years ago when Vanessa had first found out about the prophecy.

There was a silence and it was bugging the shit out of Vanessa. She heard murmurs of Im sorry's but that was it.

"But I love Selene and she takes good care of me," Vanessa said with a smile.

Kate smiled. "That's good."

**Over at the pool tables…..**

"That Vanessa girl is really hot," Reid said leaning against the pool table waiting for Aaron to shoot.

"Yeah," Tyler agreed looking over at her and the rest of their friends.

Aaron only sunk one ball and Reid chuckled.

"Dude, you suck. Why don't you just save yourself the embarrassment and give me the money now," Reid said holding out his arms as if to provoke Aaron.

Aaron however had overheard what Reid and Tyler were talking about and had looked up to see the girl. He smirked and threw his pool stick on the table.

"Where the hell are you going?" Tyler questioned.

But all Aaron simply did was walk over to where Vanessa and everyone else were sitting.

Reid clenched his fist and stormed over with Tyler in tow.

A pair of hands grabbed Vanessa's shoulders. Ones she didn't know so she turned around to meet the grinning face of Aaron Abott.

"The name's Aaron," He said extending his hand.

Vanessa was rather amused at how hard he was trying. "And?" Vanessa asked completely ignoring the offered hand.

Aaron tried to make sure his embarrassment didn't show. He slowly lowered his hand. "It looks like your new and I really wouldn't mind showing you around the place. Maybe I could even show my room," He said with a wink.

Vanessa grabbed her throat and made it look like she was swallowing something revolting. "Sorry I just threw up in my mouth." She cleared her throat and stood up.

Reid and Tyler chuckled behind Aaron. When Aaron turned around to glare at Reid and Tyler they returned the stare with double the hate.

Aaron turned back to face Vanessa. "So what do you say?" He asked with a grin.

Vanessa held back a laugh. "I say…" She began to say while reaching behind her to grab her sprite off the table. She slowly started to bring the drink to the front of her without Aaron seeing. She quickly tossed the drink at Aaron's crotch completely soaking that area. "That it looks like you've pissed your pants. And quite frankly, I don't date 2 year olds," Vanessa said thrusting the empty cup at Aaron's chest.

Aaron looked down at the damage. "You bitch!" He shouted while everyone was laughing so hard. A satisfying grin slowly started to appear on Vanessa's face.

He reached his hand back as if to slap Vanessa but was quickly stopped by another hand. Vanessa and Aaron both looked at the source. Reid.

"Why don't you go clean that up Aaron?" He said mockingly. "And I know you weren't about to hit her," Reid said with warning in his voice.

Aaron ripped his hand away from Reid's and walked away with a scowl on his face.

Vanessa had a look of wonder on her face as she looked at Reid. Reid simply smirked and watched Aaron walk away. When he turned back to face Vanessa she quickly shook her head and gave a smile.

"What?" Reid questioned.

"Nothing," Vanessa said with a smile. "But..." She started to say thanks but then remembered her not showing any feelings. Not getting attached. "I could have handled it," She quickly finished.

Reid gave a puzzled look. He had been looking for praise. But instead had gotten a snap in the ass. Something was drawing him to Vanessa and he couldn't figure out what.

Vanessa however noticed the way Reid was looking at her and snapped her finger in front of his face. "Earth to Reid?" She said trying to sound annoyed.

He snapped out of it and smirked.

"What?" Vanessa asked.

"Nothing," He said with a grin.

"Does anyone else know what's going on?" Sarah asked with much confusion in her voice.

"Not me," Everyone seemed to reply all at once.

Tyler however, knew what was going through his friend's mind. He laughed and slapped his hand on Reid's back. "So Vanessa…" Tyler began but was side tracked by a fight forming.

Reid looked over. "There can't be a fight. Because I didn't start it," He said pouting his lip slightly.

Caleb laughed. "Well there's a first."

Reid shot him a glare but this time everyone laughed.

As Reid and Tyler walked over to what was happening Vanessa sat back down. Caleb and Pogue stood up to go check things out as well.

"Reid totally wants you," Kate said with a giggle.

Vanessa simply laughed.

"But I'd watch out for him. He's kind of a player and tends to not take girls seriously," Sarah added.

Vanessa glanced over at Reid and took that fact into thought. If he didn't take girls seriously, then why not have some fun with him? Vanessa thought to herself.

"What about you though. You have a boyfriend?" Kate interrupted her thoughts.

Vanessa looked over at Kate. "Nah," She said shaking her head.

Sarah raised her eyebrows and took a sip of her drink.

Vanessa was getting rather bored and took out her cell phone to check the time. Only 10:45.

"Im going to head out," Vanessa said standing up and setting a 20 on the table for a tip.

"Yeah, we're probably going to leave in a little bit too," Sarah agreed.

"It was nice meeting you Vanessa," Kate said with a friendly smile.

"You too," Vanessa returned the smile.

Vanessa began to walk out and of course, everyone noticed her. Especially Reid. He walked away from the fight and ran to catch up with Vanessa who had just walked out the door.

"Vanessa!" Reid called only 5 feet behind her.

She turned her head to see Reid. "Hey," She smiled but continued to walk.

"Wait. Aren't you going to let me talk to you?" He asked standing there.

Vanessa bit her lip holding back her laugh. She turned around and shifted her weight to one foot.

Reid smiled in satisfaction. "Tomorrow's Saturday and I was wondering if you wanted to grab some breakfast."

"I don't know," Vanessa said with a shrug. If Reid was such a player then why was he spending so much time trying to get her impressed?

Reid wasn't all that used to rejection. This made him want her more. "What do you mean you don't know?" He asked in disbelief.

Vanessa grinned. "Like I said. I don't know. I mean I don't really know you Reid," She said started to walk backwards towards her car.

"Exactly. Come and, get to know me better," He said with a grin.

"You are going to make me throw a drink at your crotch too?" Vanessa joked.

"If that's what it takes," He smirked.

Vanessa wasn't quite sure what to say to this. This sincerity wasn't what she had expected. "Umm...I'll think about it," She said before climbing into her car and closing the door.

Reid stood there. Without an answer. And wanting more.

Vanessa drove off and started to think about what would happen. Selene had always told her to live for the moment.

**A:N// Oh lala! You get your first glimpse at what might turn out to be a romance between Reid and Vanessa!**


	3. Chapter 3

Strata came from the speakers of Vanessa's car on her way back to the dorms. She bit her lip in thought while steering the wheel with only one hand.

"_Should I go tomorrow_…?" Vanessa thought to herself. Weighing the pro's and con's of the situation.

The Pro's were she would have a good time, get to hang out with a cute boy and not worry about him getting attached.

The Con's were **she** might get attached. Vanessa had never worried about herself getting attached before, but she was always certain that the chances were low. But then again, what would one little breakfast date do?

She sighed and turned the music up louder to distract her thoughts.

Taking all the right turns and stopping at all the stop signs she never once considered calling Selene for advice. Vanessa knew that Selene would be awake of course, but didn't quite feel like calling anyone. At least not now. That thought quickly left her mind as she pulled into the driveway of Spencer's Academy.

Vanessa stepped out of her car and grabbed her cell phone off of the passenger seat before slamming the door shut. After quickly locking it she turned and started to walk to the entrance.

Something itched in the back of Vanessa's mind. Almost like a warning. She turned her head to see if there was danger near by, but there wasn't. At least nothing that she could see of.

Vanessa continued to walk, but quickened her pace a little bit. The thing in her mind was growing stronger making Vanessa a little bit more nervous. She knew she could take whatever it was, but she was tired and it would be more difficult.

Her steps started to get faster, until she was finally jogging.

Once inside the building somewhat of a safety overwhelmed her. She started to walk normal again. Her high-heels started to bother her feet so she leaned down to take them off. She rested a hand on the wall to keep balance. With the heels in one hand she swung the other hand freely, along with the heels. Vanessa started to hum a tune that she couldn't recall the name of until words started to pour out of her mouth. The words were soft, yet were able to be heard if you were in the same hall as her.

Vanessa had been daydreaming that she was on the complete wrong floor. She laughed at herself while trying to figure out which floor she **was** on. Vanessa heard voices coming up the staircase she was about to approach and made her senses more alert.

Relief flooded over her as she recognized the voices as Reid and Tyler. Soon enough body's shown to match.

Vanessa grinned then wiped it away and tried to act like she never saw the guys. She started to walk past them.

Reid was looking down, counting the money he had just won thanks to Aaron. He heard faint footsteps going past him, but before he got the chance to look up Tyler nudged him in the side.

He looked up and saw the familiar back of Vanessa. "Vanessa," He said with a smile on his face.

Vanessa paused then turned around slowly. She pretended like she had never seen them. "Oh hey you guys. Getting back so soon?" Vanessa asked.

"Yeah we schooled Aaron and his gang," Tyler mentioned with a satisfying grin.

"Thought you would," Vanessa noted.

Reid rolled his eyes at Tyler's attempt to impress Vanessa. "Anyways...that's nothing new," Reid chuckled. "Vanessa, you never answered my question early."

"I know," Vanessa shrugged.

"Ah...I see. Playing hard to get now are we?" Reid smirked.

"Not really. I just wasn't sure," Vanessa tried to play it cool.

Reid laughed. "Well are you sure now?"

Vanessa grinned the finally answered after making anticipation build up in Reid. "I know what Im going to say," She said not revealing her answer entirely.

Reid walked closer to Vanessa while she held her ground. She wasn't quite sure what to make of Reid and that made her the slightest bit nervous.

"And?" He asked inches away from her.

She inched her face towards his to whisper in his ear. "Wouldn't you like to know?" She pulled back with a mischievous grin on her face and turned to walk away.

Once again she had left Reid Garwin standing without an answer and without a date. He was astonished by how hard this girl was playing him.

Vanessa knew he would just show up at her dorm anyways, she had read his mind. Something she hadn't done to someone normal in a long time. Yet again, she hadn't read anyone's mind in a long time. In fear of what she might find. But this time was different. She wasn't thinking about what kind of danger she was in, but instead what this boy had up his sleeve.

A smile appeared on her lips as she grabbed they key to her dorm out of her pocket. She opened the door and sighed, feeling overwhelmed with being somewhere new.

She tossed the keys on her dresser and draped her jacket over her desk's chair. Vanessa walked into the bathroom and washed her face. She looked at herself in the mirror without any make-up. Nothing to hide behind. Vanessa then, remembered her purpose in being there.

Shoving that memory far into the back of her head Vanessa quickly changed into her pajamas. This consisted of very little clothing. A white tank-top and a pair of blue shorts. Flopping down on her bed Vanessa groaned. She groaned for the future that awaited her, the upcoming tests in school tomorrow, and the possible trouble she was getting herself into by becoming friends with people.

Vanessa sat up and tossed her hair into a messy bun then let her hands flop down onto the bed. She looked around her room then spotted her unpacked suitcase. "Might as well," She said out loud to herself. Vanessa got up from her bed and walked over to get to work.

When everything was unpacked and put in its rightful place Vanessa looked over at her clock. 11:49. She was really tired so decided to go to bed. Vanessa walked over to her bed and crawled underneath the covers. She laid there, staring at the ceiling in silence. Soon enough she drifted off into sleep.

"_Where am I?" Vanessa thought to herself. She looked around and decided that it was some sort of wood. But why she was in the forest, she had no idea. All of a sudden she found herself walking and eventually running. Trying to find a way out. She looked up and the moon was full. Not a great sign. Let's see, she was in the woods, by herself, on a full moon. This was like the night described in her prophecy. Running faster now she started to hear rustles coming from all around her. Stopping dead in her tracks and hiding behind a tree to see if anyone would show themselves, Vanessa started to get a horrible feeling. _

_She screamed._

_Something had grabbed her foot but when she looked down nothing was there, nothing but a dark glow. It slowly started to crawl up her leg._

_Vanessa started to run again while it covered more and more of her body. She had to get out of there. Her leg became weighed down quickly. Using almost all of her energy now Vanessa was becoming tired quickly._

_She stopped for a second to catch her breath then forced herself to keep running. The black glow was at her waist now, covering both her legs. Vanessa felt a force push her to the ground, and with that she fell. She struggled to get up but it just kept pushing her back down._

_The moonlight streamed down from the trees and Vanessa saw a dark shadow standing over her. She flipped over onto her back to see what she thought looked like a man. Only she couldn't see his face._

"_Hello Vanessa," The figure said in a voice that made her skin crawl._

_She started to say something but no words left her mouth._

"_You have no idea how long I've waited for this day. Every time I thought I was close to finding you, you somehow disappeared."_

_Vanessa started to inch back from her place on the ground. But the man only stepped forward._

"_But you see; now I've got you. The prophecy will be in favor of my side now." The man paused and an evil smirk crawled along his face. Even though Vanessa couldn't see it, she knew it was there._

"_Im going to make your death long and painful. Just so you know how my search for you was; long and painful." _

_With that Vanessa closed her eyes. She wasn't going to fight him. Why not? She thought to herself. She tried bringing her hands up but then was quickly reminded that she was bonded down by a form of black energy._

"_It's not use Vanessa," He said making a comment on her attempt to fight back. "You're just as dead as your parents." The figure laughed a little. "That was the memory that has kept me moving on. You and your parents. You watched them die a sorrowful death and you did nothing to stop it. It was your entire fault. Yet they did everything to protect you, you did nothing to protect them. Once they were dead you up and left."_

This time Vanessa decided to speak up. "I was 14 years old," She snarled between gritted teeth.

_He laughed. "But a powerful 14 year old you were," He noted._

"_I had no choice over my leaving," She snapped at him._

_He acknowledged that little fact. "True. You were petrified." He laughed. "Oh God Vanessa, I can't wait to see that same look of terror and pain on your face."_

_And with those words he raised his hands above his head and started to mumble something that Vanessa didn't understand. She closed her eyes shut and waited for the pain to start ripping her apart._

With that Vanessa woke with a scream. She was sweating and her covers were tangled around her body. "Just a dream," She whispered to herself while looking over at the clock. 6 am. She might as well take a shower.

She climbed out of bed and went into her bathroom to slap some cold water on her face. "Just a dream," She told herself yet again.

Vanessa walked over to her nightstand to where her cell phone sat. She picked it up and typed a little message to Reid.

Pick me up at 9.

-V


	4. Chapter 4

Vanessa walked back to her dorm with a simple towel draped around her. She had taken a long hot shower and tried her best not to think about the awful dream she had woken up from 2 hours ago. She opened her door without hesitation, because well, she hadn't locked it. She knew she should have, considering the consequences but didn't.

She tossed her shower supplies on the floor and walked into the bathroom. She plugged in her hair-dryer and started to dry her hair. Whipping it around for the effect she had always loved her hair was completely dry within minutes. She brushed it out and unplugged her hair-dryer. Vanessa got out her curling iron to have a little curl at the end of her hair.

Once that was done she walked over to her closet to pick out her outfit. She picked out a pair of jeans that had holes at the knees and were a bit worn down. She loved that style and started to search for the perfect top. She didn't want to look like it was a date, but still wanted to look hot. Finally, she decided on a simple off the shoulder long sleeved white shirt. She pinked out a baby pink tank top to go under it. The sleeves were a little longer then normal, but that was the style.

Vanessa got into her outfit then slipped on her pink flip-flops. She walked into the bathroom and put on a little makeup.

She walked into her room and looked at the clock. It read 8:50. She had ten minutes that is, if Reid ever got his text. Did guys even wake up before 9? Vanessa had no idea; she had never been around guys much. Let alone go out with them in the morning. Scratch that, she didn't go out with guy's period. It was simply not thought about.

Vanessa sensed that there was someone out in the hallway. She leaned her ear against the wall listening. Someone was mumbling and somewhat pacing back and forth. She pulled back a bit confused then tried to reach into their thoughts.

"_So its 8:55, should I be early or late_?" She heard the voice thinking. She laughed to herself a little. She knew it was Reid.

Vanessa walked away from the wall to grab her cell phone. She hooked it onto the side of her jeans. She grabbed a 50 and stuffed it in her pocket. Pausing slightly before opening the door she thought about what this…experience would be like. Without further hesitation she opened the door and walked out. Only instead of walking in the direction of Reid she walked in the opposite direction of him. She was pretending that hadn't even noticed someone practically staking out in front of her door.

Reid looked up to see the gorgeous girl walk out. He smiled and put both of his hands into his pockets. "I was just about to knock," He said a little flustered.

Vanessa turned around. "Sure you were Reid. You sure you weren't going to stalk me?" She raised an eyebrow.

He laughed. "Nah. Not today anyways." He walked over to her and they both started to walk.

"I got your text. What were you doing up that early?" Reid asked.

"Umm…" Vanessa searched for an excuse but then decided not to lie completely. "Bad dream," She answered.

"I see." He nodded. "What about?" He questioned.

"Nothing."

"Well it obviously wasn't just nothing if it woke you up that early," He pointed out.

Vanessa looked over at him getting a bit annoyed. "Just drop it okay."

"Fine," Reid said with a smirk on his face. "Anyways, I see you decided to join me never the less."

"I needed to get out of the dorm." Vanessa shrugged.

Reid nodded and kept walking.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"You'll see." A smirk appeared on his face.

She rolled her eyes and they kept walking. They got to the parking lot and Vanessa started walking one way but Reid pulled her another. "My car's this way," He said not letting go of her hand.

Vanessa felt a bit awkward holding his hand and forced herself out of it pretending she needed to pull out her cell phone.

They walked up to a hummer. "I can drive myself," Vanessa stated.

Reid laughed. "Aww come on! You can't resist a ride in this baby!"

Vanessa laughed and climbed into the car. "Your car?" She asked.

"Yeah," Reid said with a grin.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You sure about that?" She protested.

Reid looks at Vanessa sheepishly. "No, its Tyler's. But since we are practically brothers we share."

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Sureee."

He smiled and paid attention to the road. "Almost there," He told her.

"I wouldn't know. Now would I? Seeing as it is a surprise and you wouldn't tell me." She crossed her arms over her chest while fighting back a grin.

He looked over at her and spotted her smile that was being held down. "Why don't you just smile? There's nothing wrong with that."

At this, she had to laugh. "I know." Vanessa shrugged.

Reid shook his head and laughed.

"We're here." He pulled into an IHop and parked the car.

He got out of the car, as did Vanessa.

Reid offered him his hand, but she pretended like she never saw it. He sighed and let it drop to his side. Vanessa noticed, and felt a little bad. She wasn't trying to be rude.

He pushed the door open, holding it for her. "Thanks," She said with a smile and walked in.

"How many?" The host asked.

"Two," Vanessa said.

She smiled and grabbed two menus. "Follow me." She turned and walked through the restaurant. Vanessa started to wonder if they would sit them in a booth, seeing that most of the place was filled with them. But a bit of relief started to flow over as the host stopped at a chaired table.

"Your waitress will be right with you," She said politely before turning to leave.

Vanessa and Reid both smiled before picking up their menus.

"What are you getting?" Reid asked, his eyes looking from Vanessa to the menu.

"Im not sure. Im looking for something…" She trailed off trying to find her favorite food.

"Well you should try the peanut butter and banana pancakes. I know it sounds really gross but they're really good," He mentioned. "But they aren't on the menu. I get they made especially for me." Reid grinned.

Vanessa slowly looked up with a look of confusion on her face. "Wait…you like peanut butter and banana pancakes?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Listen, it sounds gross-," He got cut off.

"No I know what they are. They're my fav…I just can't." She paused and tilted her head to the side. "Have you been following me?"

A sensation came over Reid that he didn't know. He laughed. "No I haven't. They're my favorite too. That's why I get them made."

She set the menu down and folded her hands over it and leaned forward slightly. "Really. Tell me the truth. Absolutely nobody likes peanut butter and banana pancakes."

He laughed and raised his right hand. "I swear that's the truth. All the guys get grossed out when I order them here."

Vanessa still looked at him funny but a waitress came over. "Hey you guy's I'll be your waitress for the morning. My name is Michelle. What can I get you?" She asked pulling out a pen and pad of paper.

"Two orders of the peanut butter and banana pancakes," Reid told her.

The waitress paused before writing that down. She wrinkled her nose and looked at Vanessa. "Did he persuade you to order that hun?"

Vanessa laughed. "No, he didn't."

Michelle raised an eyebrow and reluctantly wrote the order down. "Look's like you've found your sole mate Reid," She said through a chuckle.

Reid blushed a little and Vanessa noticed. She smiled and looked down at her hands.

"Anyway…sorry about that," He said a bit embarrassed.

"It's okay," She reassured him.

"Tell me about yourself," He said leaning in a little sounding very interested.

"Not much to know," Vanessa shrugged.

"But there's gotta be something," He urged.

"You were saying that Tyler's like your brother. Tell me about that," She said completely ignoring his statement.

"Long story," He explained.

"We have time."

"Okay. Well Caleb, Pogue, Tyler and I all grew up together. Our families were really tight so now we are. Caleb's like our leader you could say." He wasn't too pleased with that. "And Pogue is like Caleb's second in command. Tyler's my bad ass in training," He continued.

Vanessa laughed. "Bad ass in training?" She questioned.

"Yeah. Baby boy needs it."

"Baby boy?"

"He's the youngest of the bunch," Reid explained.

"I see," Vanessa nodded her head.

"Any who, that's pretty much it. Since we grew up together, like brother's that's what we refer to one another as." Reid shrugged and leaned back in his chair.

For the first time, Vanessa started to see Reid as a real person. Not just someone that she could waste time with. But someone with feelings and friends.

"You're lucky," She started. "I've never been able to get close to people…" She paused and quickly became alarmed with where she was going. "With moving so much," She recovered without Reid picking up on anything.

Reid sensed a bit of sadness in her, he knew that she had opened up a little bit to him. Maybe he had a shot after all? He placed his hand on her knee.

Vanessa suddenly became very aware that she might have let herself get a little "too soft" and reached down to remove his hand. But something made her hand linger on his, a bit too long but then eventually slowly pushed it off.

Reid noticed how she had lingered on his hand and a smile crossed his face. He knew he wasn't there all the way, but he knew, somehow, that he was getting close.

Vanessa felt an awkward silence coming up but that was luckily stopped by their waitress coming by with their food. "Here you go." She said placing the plates down in front of Vanessa and then Reid. "Enjoy." Michelle said with a smile and walked away.

"Yum!" Vanessa exclaimed. "It's only missing…" She searched for the right bottle of syrup.

Reid hadn't even looked up at Vanessa but went to reach for the pecan syrup.

Vanessa found the right syrup, pecan. Her favorite. She had it in her hand and without looking felt another hand as well. She looked up and saw Reid's hand there. He looked up and started to laugh.

"Now I'm sure you're stalking me." Vanessa stated.

Their hands hadn't moved, still touching one another. Vanessa noticed and pulled hers away.

Reid smiled and handed the syrup to her. "I swear Im not stalking you." He said trying to be serious by easily cracked up.

"It's not funny!" Vanessa scolded with a smile on her face.

He laughed some more. "Come on, you don't find it a bit odd that we both like peanut butter and banana pancakes with pecan syrup?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Of course I think it's weird. But not funny, more freaky."

"It's funny."

"It is not!" She said almost laughing.

She cut her pancake and put it in her mouth. Flavor started screaming in her mouth and she felt like she was in heaven. Once she was done chewing she wasn't angry or even annoyed. "These are the best one's I've ever had."

Reid grinned while chewing a piece of his own. He swallowed. "I know."

From there they mostly had small talk. About school, classes and Vanessa's run in with Aaron the other night at Nicky's. They got some laughs about that one.

The check quickly came. Michelle placed it on the table "Have a wonderful day." She smiled and left.

Reid and Vanessa reached for it at the same time. Vanessa got to it first. Reid held his hand out, awestruck. "Are you kidding me? Since when do girls pay?" He asked.

Vanessa smirked. Satisfied with his reaction. She pulled the 50 out of her pocket.

"No way." He said grabbing the receipt from her hands. He slipped the receipt and his Black American Express card into the leather envelope thing the receipt had originally been in. "Parents credit card." He shrugged.

She sat there with her arms crossed over her chest. "Exactly, your parents didn't eat this. We did. So ill pay." She challenged.

"But you see, my parents want me to be well fed." He joked.

Vanessa couldn't help but laugh.

"But you know what this means?" He asked.

"No, what?"

"You'll just have to pay next time." Reid stated.

"Next time?" Vanessa raised her eyebrows.

Reid laughed. "Yeah, next time."

Vanessa laughed, but only a little.

"You didn't think you could get rid of me that easily did you?" Reid asked.

Vanessa didn't know what to say with this. Because quite frankly, she thought he wouldn't become attached to her. At least that's what the girls had said about his reputation. She would definitely have to ask them about this.

They both got in the car.

Vanessa sighed. "Listen, I might have been a little harsh earlier."

Reid raised an eyebrow. "Are you…apologizing?"

Vanessa looked down. "No." She objected.

"Whatever you say." He tried to hide the satisfied smirk on his face. He popped a CD into the stereo.

"What CD is that?" Vanessa asked.

"They're my favorite band." Reid smiled.

Vanessa waited for some kind of music she would hate to start coming out of the speakers. But instead she got one of her favorite bands.

"You like Dashboard Confessional?" Vanessa asked.

"You know who they are? Im impressed. Yeah they're my favorite band." Reid said.

"I love them. I've seen them in concert 4 times." She leaned her head against the back of the seat.

"Really? You're lucky. Im officially jealous of you." He laughed.

Vanessa laughed. "Yeah they were awesome." She thought to herself, _I wouldn't be so jealous of me_.

The song Stolen started to play off of their new CD. Vanessa closed her eyes and let the music fill her ears. Reid looked over at her and smiled. He let her listen to the song in peace and continued to drive.

When it ended he said "You really like that song?"

"Yeah." Vanessa answered with a smile on her face.

They finally got back to Spencer's and before Vanessa could open her door Reid was opening it for her. She smiled politely. He offered his hand to help her out and she took it. He smiled to himself. Progress, he thought to himself. Vanessa let go after a couple seconds. Reid locked the car, knowing Tyler would kill him if he didn't.

Vanessa and Reid started to walk to their dorms. "Thanks for breakfast Reid." She smiled and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

"No problem. I enjoyed the company. Caleb and Pogue are always off with their girlfriend. And don't get me wrong, I love Tyler's company. But sometimes it's nice to hang with someone else." He smiled at her.

Vanessa smiled. "Well I guess I should go. I have to get all of my things together for classes tomorrow."

Reid nodded. "Yeah. Who knows? Maybe ill have some classes with you."

"You never know." She grinned. "See you later." She turned and walked away.

"I hope so." Reid muttered to himself before turning to go back to his room.

**A:N/ Yes! Very long I know! But I had a lot of good ideas to put in here. Help of my friend Michelle of course!! Reid and Vanessa have a little connection going on. Review!!!**


	5. Chapter 5

Vanessa woke up to the sound of the most annoying alarm clock. Hadn't she set it to radio instead of a beeping noise? She lifted her head and looked, guess not. It was on the annoying beeping noise that she was hearing right now. She shut it off and let her head fall back onto her pillow.

After laying there for 15 minutes she sat up. There must have been a reason she set her alarm that early. Oh yeah, classes. She groaned and rolled off her bed. She crawled over to her dresser where her schedule was. Her first class was…in half an hour! _Shit_, she thought to herself. She kneeled then sat on her feet that were underneath her. Vanessa rubbed her face with her hands, trying to get herself to wake up. Once she was a little more awake she yawned. Vanessa stood up and walked into the bathroom. She splashed some cold water on her face and washed up. After styling her hair so it was half up and half down. She went to pick out her outfit. Then she realized she didn't get to do that. They had uniforms.

She walked over to where the hideous uniform lay and put it on. She did as much as she could for it to look good. But she didn't have all that much to work with. Once she was done she had 10 minutes to get to class. No worries, she could probably get there in 5. That is, if she ran. But she didn't want to risk getting all sweaty. So she left her dorm and walked down the hall.

"Hey Vanessa." A voice startled her a little bit.

She turned around to see Sarah walking a few steps behind her.

"Hey Sarah." Vanessa said trying not to sound asleep.

"Just wake up?"

"Yeah. How did you know?" Vanessa was rather curious on how obvious it was.

"I was new last year and I slept in as long as I could. But Im used to my early schedule now." She smiled like she had been awake for hours.

Vanessa gave a sleepy laugh.

"What class do you have?" Sarah asked.

"History." Vanessa said.

"Me too. We can go there together." Sarah started to walk again and Vanessa followed her example.

Vanessa was never one to be a follower. But at 9:30 in the morning she might as well, just to make sure she didn't walk into any walls.

Five minutes later Sarah and Vanessa were walking into history class. Vanessa was more awake, then again how could she not be? Sarah had been babbling on and on for as long as she could remember.

Vanessa looked up in the auditorium seating and spotted Reid sitting with Tyler. "Where do you want to sit?" Vanessa asked.

"Over here." Sarah started to walk to a seat that wasn't near Tyler and Reid.

Vanessa was slightly disappointed but then decided she needed some time trying to **not** get attached to Reid.

"So I heard you went to breakfast with Reid?" Sarah mentioned after settling down.

Vanessa looked up. "Yeah. How did you know?"

Sarah shrugged. "Caleb told me. So Reid probably told him."

"Oh." Vanessa opened her notebook and got ready to take notes.

"So how did it go?" Sarah asked eagerly.

Vanessa thought about how to answer it. "It was fun. But you know how you said about Reid being like, a total playboy and not getting attached to girls?"

"Yeah." Sarah starting to get a questioning look on her face.

"Well he sure doesn't act like it. I mean he acts like…I don't know. Just not like I thought he would. He was trying kind of hard to impress me."

Sarah bit her lip and was silent. "That's weird. Reid just usually hooks up with girls then doesn't talk about them. I don't know what to say. Except maybe that he really does like you."

"But he doesn't even know me." Vanessa complained.

"I know. Im just as confused as you now." Sarah looked at the teacher that just walked in.

Vanessa sat there, without answers and completely unsatisfied.

"Vanessa." She heard a voice and came out of her daydream.

"Yeah?" She asked to no one in particular.

"Can you tell us the answer?" The teacher asked.

"No."

"And why not?" He was getting angry.

Vanessa shrugged.

"Next time, pay attention. I'll try my hardest not to bore you."

"You can try." Vanessa knew she should have shown more respect, but she honestly didn't care right now.

Laughter erupted through out the class and the teacher scolded them to settle down and glared at Vanessa. Although she didn't noticed because she was doodling on her notebook.

"What's that?" A voice asked from over her shoulder.

Vanessa looked back to see who it was. Reid. She looked back down at the notebook; she didn't know she had drawn something because she had been daydreaming again. It was her amulet.

"Something I drew." Vanessa shrugged.

"It's really good." He complimented her.

She smiled. "Thanks." She tilted her head to look at it again.

"Dude, I can't believe you talked to Mr. George like that today in class." Tyler laughed.

Reid grinned. "Yeah I'm not sure I would have even said that." He brought his hand to chin and thought. "Just kidding. I would." He laughed.

Vanessa couldn't help but laugh. "To be honest, I didn't know I would say something like that either. It sort of just blurted out."

"Ill catch you later Vanessa." Sarah said before getting up and heading out.

Vanessa nodded and wondered why Sarah wouldn't stick around. Probably to meet up with Caleb.

"What class you got next?" Tyler asked.

"English." Vanessa answered.

"Me too." Reid said.

"Later." Tyler pounded fists with Reid and headed out.

"We've got it with Caleb and Kate too." Reid informed her.

"Cool." Vanessa really didn't care. She just wanted the day to by as fast as she could. "What do you guys talk about in English anyway?"

"Well right now we are talking about the Salem Witch Trials." He shrugs. "I don't pay attention unless it really interests me. And I already know a lot on that stuff."

Vanessa nodded her head and she started to walk out with Reid.

"So what other classes do you have?" Reid asked trying to start a conversation.

"Umm…" Vanessa reached into her bag to find her schedule. Once she found it she handed it to him.

Reid scanned it over before nodding his head. "We have 2 other classes together." A grin appeared on his face.

"Oh great." Vanessa joked. She had started to lighten-up to Reid but knew to be careful.

He laughed and turned the corner into a classroom. Vanessa noticed Kate and Caleb were sitting fairly near each other.

"Come on." Reid looked back at Vanessa and nodded to follow him.

At this point Vanessa didn't really care. So she did as she was told.

She sat down next Reid and Kate looked back and waved at her. Vanessa smiled. She saw Kate pull out her cell phone and she was guessing she was sending a text. Then Vanessa's cell started to ring to she pulled it out. It was a text from Kate.

Wutsup with you and Reid?

Vanessa fingers darted across her mini-keypad.

Nothing. Y?

Kate turned around and told Vanessa she would talk to her later. Vanessa shrugged and tucked her cell phone back into her bag.

"What was that about?" Reid asked curiously.

"Nothing." She shrugged.

The teacher walked in. Reid told her that her name was Mrs. Herring.

"Today class we're going to be continuing the subject of the Salem Witch Hunt Trials. " Mrs. Herring told the class.

Reid laid his head down on his desk and groaned.

"Mr. Garwin, perhaps you would like to shed some light on the matter?"

He lifted his head up slightly, and then finally sat up all the way. "People hunted witches." He smirked and giggles came from the class.

Mrs. Herring glared at Reid. "That answer is unacceptable. Please go into further detail unless you would like to stay after class to go through another lesson."

Reid sighed and began. "Well in 1692…" Reid went on and on in amazing details things about the Salem Witch Trials. 5 minutes later Vanessa was wondering how he knew all this. She didn't dare enter his mind, in fear of what she might find.

The teacher nodded. "Very nice Mr. Garwin. See what you can do when you set your mind to it?"

Reid simply shrugged. Apparently spilling out all of that information was nothing to him.

After class had ended Vanessa gathered her books. "How did you know all of that?" She questioned Reid.

"It's something you know when you grow up in Ipswich." He shrugged.

Vanessa narrowed her eyes at him when he wasn't looking. She didn't believe him. The teacher wouldn't have been as impressed as she was if everyone in Ipswich knew that.

She started to walk out of the class but her name was called. She spun around to see Kate trying to catch up with her.

"Hey." Vanessa said with a smile. "You wanted to talk to me didn't you?" She mentioned, recalling the texts.

"Yeah." Kate nodded while pushing her hair over her shoulders.

Vanessa moved her head as if to say, and?

"Listen, I know I don't know you very well but I know Reid."

"Uh huh." Vanessa had no idea where this was going.

Kate looked around to make sure no one was listening, but people were. "Let's go." She grabbed Vanessa and rushed her to the bathroom. Kate set her books on the sink counter and fixed her make-up.

"What's all this about?" Vanessa was getting rather annoyed.

"Spill on you and Reid."

"What the-"Vanessa began.

"I know you don't know me very well. But like I said before, I know Reid. And he doesn't just go around taking girls to breakfast. When he decides a girl is just a hook-up he takes them to Nicky's. Not breakfast. So obviously you're something different." Kate turned around to look Vanessa in the eye.

Vanessa raised an eyebrow. "What do you think it means?"

"Well I'm not one hundred percent sure. But my guess is that Reid plans on keeping you around. I mean, he's never had a real girlfriend before so it's nothing certain. But who knows." Kate finished.

"But Sarah told me that he was just a playboy. You know, not likely to get attached?" Vanessa was starting to fret.

"What I don't get is why you would agree to go out with someone if you knew they had that kind of reputation?" Kate questioned her.

Now Vanessa was annoyed. "I didn't really consider it. It was just breakfast, nothing more then that." She shrugged.

"But does Reid know that?"

"You know Kate; I really don't feel like talking about this. I have to go." Before Kate could stop her Vanessa was out of the bathroom and walking through the halls.

Kate still had some picking around to do. She grabbed her things and headed off to lunch. She sat down between Pogue and Sarah. "Hey you guys." She said.

"Where were you?" Sarah asked.

Kate shrugged. "Having a chat with someone."

The guys all looked at Kate.

"Who?" Pogue asked suspiciously.

"Vanessa." Kate said it like it meant nothing, like it was something she did everyday.

This caught Reid's attention. He jerked his head up. "What?" He asked.

"Yeah I talked to Vanessa." Kate restated.

"And why did you do that?" Reid asked.

"I just wanted to ask her a few things." Kate opened her purchased salad.

"Like what?"

"Why do you care?"

Reid chose his words carefully. "Cause she's hot."

Kate gave him a look. "That's why you brought her to breakfast instead of your dorm?"

He shrugged. "It's a process. This one's hard to crack."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Yeah right. You could get so many girls in this school with a snap of your fingers. So why bother going after this one?"

Reid shrugged. "I don't know. She's pretty cool." He took a bite of his sandwich. "Listen, I have to head back to my dorm. I gotta grab some things." He stood up and left.

Once out of earshot Pogue laughed. "He so like's her." He shook his head.

"Leave him alone you guys!" Sarah protested. "It's kind of cute." She tilted her head to the side.

Caleb laughed and kissed her on the head.

"What do you think Tyler?" Pogue asked.

Tyler had been silent. He really didn't know what to make of Vanessa, but knew that Reid liked her. "Im not sure. I think he likes her. But we haven't really talked about it." He shrugged.

Caleb looked off to where Reid had left. "Maybe you should find out more Tyler. We don't want Reid getting in over his head."

They all laughed and Tyler nodded in agreement.


	6. Chapter 6

It was the end of the day and it had gone by slowly to Vanessa. Barely paying attention to any of her classes, but she knew she would have no trouble with her homework. She had gone back to her dorm in a rush. While Reid and Tyler were caught up in talk.

"So what's up with Vanessa dude?" Tyler asked.

Reid shrugged.

"Come on Reid! Kate is right; you don't take girls to breakfast." He forced.

"Maybe…I like her." Reid said looking down at his feet while he walked.

Tyler grinned. "I knew it!"

Reid smirked and punched Tyler in the shoulder.

"But why didn't you just fess up today at lunch?"

Reid looked at Tyler like he was an idiot. "Are you kidding me? Do you know how much shit I would get from everyone?"

Tyler nodded in agreement. The guys were always a little tough on Reid.

"You said she was different from the other girls. How do you figure?" Tyler asked.

"I don't know. There's just something about her that I can't figure out." Reid shrugged.

"Yeah, Vanessa is something else." Tyler added. "Don't take this the wrong way. But I've just been curious why you of all people, aren't trying to get in her pants? I mean, Aaron's already tried and we know how that ended up." He chuckled.

Reid looked at Tyler. "Honestly, I haven't really thought about it." He paused. "Well, I've thought about it. But not as much as I normally would. It started off that way, but then I got to know her in a way, and it just wasn't what it was all about."

"Does she like you back?" Tyler questioned.

Reid shrugged. "I have no idea. She seems like she doesn't let people in too often. If ever." She stuck his hands in his pockets. "But it's definitely worth a try."

"That sounds a bit like…" Tyler paused for effect. "You." He laughed.

"What are you talking about?" Reid protested. "I let people in." Reid laughed along with Tyler. "my room." He muttered then laughed some more.

"But did she let YOU in." Tyler challenged.

"I'm not sure. I think a little bit, more then most people." He sighed. "But she's so hot!"

Tyler smiled wickedly in agreement. "Hell yeah!"

The boys got to their room and walked in. Reid tossed his bag down on the floor and Tyler put his at the end of his bed.

Reid pulled out his phone to check to see if he had any texts or messages.

Tyler noticed and took off his tie from his uniform. "Why don't you just call her?"

Reid looked up; unaware that Tyler had seen him fiddling with his phone. "Who?" Reid played dumb.

Now it was Tyler's turn to give Reid the, you're-an-idiot look. "You know who I'm talking about."

"Why don't **you** call her?" Reid was getting slightly irritated.

"Fine I will." Tyler pulled out his phone and started to dial numbers.

Reid chucked a pillow at Tyler's head. "Fine." He flipped open his phone and dialed Vanessa's numbers.

It rang until a voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey what's up?" He casually asked.

"Just doing some homework…You?"

"Homework? Who does homework?" He laughed.

"I do. It's stuff on the Salem Witch Hunt. It interested me today in class." Vanessa said.

"That stuff is boring." Reid picked something up off his dresser and played with it in his hand.

"You didn't seem too bored with it today in class." Vanessa called him out.

"It _is_ boring. I just happen to know a lot about it." Reid protested.

"Well I've found some interesting stuff so far…" She began.

"Like what?"

"Doesn't matter. You said it was boring remember. And I certainly don't want to bore you." Vanessa tried not to giggle.

She had him stuck on this one.

"Anyways, why were you calling me again?" She asked and he heard the turning of a page in the background.

"Oh, yeah. Well I'm going to Nicky's tonight and you can come if you want."

"You're offering to honor me with your presence?" She questioned.

"No, sorry. What I meant is I just wanted you to come." It was a good thing she couldn't see him blush.

There was a short silence on the other end. "I'm kind of tired…" She began.

"If you don't feel like going to Nicky's we could always hang out here."

"Has anyone ever told you that you are pushy?" Vanessa asked.

He laughed. "Is that a good or bad thing?"

Vanessa laughed. "Im not quite sure yet."

A satisfied grin appeared on his face.

"Well I do have to finish some homework. So I guess I'll talk to you later." Vanessa sighed.

"I'll see you later." Reid smirked.

Vanessa rolled her eyes then hung up the phone.

"How did it go?" Tyler looked up from the magazine he was reading.

A grin came across Reid's face.

"That well?" Tyler raised his eyebrows.

"She so wants me."

Tyler laughed while trying to hide his disappointment. He honestly had a little crush on Vanessa. Reid always got the girls and Tyler simply didn't.

Reid got changed out of his uniform and into some jeans. He had a grey sweater on with his black beanie and fingerless gloves.

"I'm actually on my way to pick her up." Reid had a grin on his face.

"That was fast." Tyler said not bothering to look up from his magazine.

Reid smirked and left the dorm.

Vanessa looked up from her books, realizing that Reid was walking down to her dorm right now.

She got up and started to get ready. She was wearing her PINK sweatpants with a green tank top. Her hair was up in a messy bun. She applied a little make-up and walked back over to her bed.

She realized she had out some books from her own prophecy and quickly put them under her bed. That would have not been good if Reid saw them, or anyone else for that matter.

Knowing that Reid was outside her door she went over and opened it. "Are you sure you're not stalking me?" She raised an eyebrow.

"_How does she keep doing that_?" Reid thought to himself. "_Maybe we're connected_." He chuckled to himself. "I came by to pick you up." 

"I thought I said I was tired and was staying in?" Vanessa remembered what she had told him earlier.

"I know. But I thought I would give you a second offer." Reid smirked.

Vanessa steps aside to let Reid come in. He walks in and turned back to face her as she closes the door.

"How considerate of you." She said sarcastically.

He laughed. "Please?"

Vanessa considered that he really wanted her to go. It couldn't hurt right? "Fine. Let me change, okay?" She took her shirt off right in front of him. Revealing her black bra.

Reid sat there with his mouth slightly open in shock.

Vanessa walked over to her closet to grab a pair of jeans and cute shirt. "Just kidding." She said walking into the bathroom.

"Too bad." Reid laughed.

"You wish." Vanessa retorted.

Reid waited while Vanessa changed. When she came out she was wearing a pair of jeans and a silky pink tank-top. A white headband lay on top of her head.

Reid smiled. "You look good."

Vanessa grinned but wondered why he hadn't used hot instead. Seeing as that was what he called her to his buddies. "Thanks."

"So why don't we go back to my room instead?" He asked.

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "I thought we were going out?"

"Well you would be getting out of your room." He offered.

"Tempting…but I think I'll pass."

A bit of disappointment passed over Reid. "Fine, let's go." He waited for her and then they left her room.

"You going to borrow Tyler's car again?" Vanessa teased.

Reid laughed. "No. He's already at Nicky's and he took it."

"I'll drive then." A grin passed over her face.

They walked over to a new edition black Ferrari.

"Sweet car." Reid commented.

"Thanks." Vanessa wasn't really dazzled by her car. She was used to it.

They got into the car and she started it up. She peeled out of the parking lot and starting racing to Nicky's.

"You drive fast. For a girl." Reid noticed.

She shrugged. "I guess."

Reid looks over and see's Vanessa in some sort of trance. He doesn't say anything but knows it abnormal. "Vanessa?" He asks.

Nothing. He then assumed that she was in her own little world with the music so he thought nothing more of it. He leaned back and tried to enjoy the ride.

Vanessa snaps out of it and gasps. She see's a car heading right toward them. Reid looks up and his eyes turn black. He made the car turn left so it would hit his side of the car instead of full-on front.

She see's the car doing this and starts for freak out a little. If something happened to Reid she…wait, was she getting feelings for him?

Reid's eyes were still black and Vanessa created a force field with her mind. As the car went right by them Reid made it skid to a stop. Vanessa noticed that the person driving the car was passed out.

"What the fuck. How did you do that?" Vanessa stopped her car and looked over at Reid.

"Me? I didn't do anything! I can't create…that thing." He referred to her force field.

"Well you did something." She raised her eyebrow but was still a little freaked out from the whole incident.

Reid fidgets in his seat and doesn't know what to say. Usually, he could easily lie about this. But for some reason he didn't have the balls to lie to Vanessa.

"This has something to do with how you knew all that stuff on the Salem Witch hunt, doesn't it?" She asked.

He looks up at her. Still, he didn't know what to say. If he said something, Caleb would kill him. And if not, then it would be obvious that he did something. He wondered if he had developed a new power without realizing it. He sure as hell had never been able to do that force field before, but he had the feeling he didn't do it.

Vanessa was reading his thoughts. She knew that he was about to accuse her of creating the force field. So she was quickly thinking of excuses.

Reid had thought about asking her about it, but decided to talk it over with the guys first.

Vanessa sighed and turned her attention back to the road. She started the car back up and drove the rest of the way to Nicky's.


	7. Chapter 7

The ride to Nicky's was silent and awkward. When they got there, they were approached by Tyler.

Tyler did a hand-shake with Reid. "What took you guys so long?"

"What do you think took us so long?" Reid put his arm around Vanessa.

She rolled her eyes and shrugged it off. "Not so fast Garwin."

Tyler laughed.

"Aaron was looking for you earlier. He wanted us to play him in some pool." Tyler had a wicked grin on his face.

"You go play some pool. I'm going over with Sarah and Kate." Vanessa began to walk off.

"What do I get if I win?" Reid smirked raising an eyebrow.

Vanessa turned around and rolled her eyes then walked away again.

Reid and Tyler walked over to Aaron and the pool table that he and his friends were up.

"Ready to get your ass kicked." Reid smirked. "Again." He added looking over at Tyler.

Aaron challenges Reid to make an impossible shot. "Twenty Bucks." Aaron bets. Reid simply smirked and made it.

"You cheated!" Aaron exclaimed, getting angry.

"How can I cheat?" Reid held his arms out.

Aaron doesn't answer verbally. But instead, throws a punch at Reid.

Before the fight could go any further Pogue and Caleb are by Reid's side, dragging him outside.

Vanessa noticed the commotion and was mentally tuning in. Hearing every word that was about to be said.

"Reid, when are you going to stop using in public?" Caleb yelled.

"Caleb chill." Reid answered. He wasn't that worried about it.

"No Reid. I'm not going to chill. One of these days you're going to get yourself in real trouble and we're not going to be there to help you out of it." Caleb was clearly getting angrier by the minute.

Reid tried to walk inside, by Caleb stopped him. Reid's eyes turn black and grabbed Caleb's hand.

"Reid…" Caleb muttered. Reid was clearly hurting him.

Tyler and Pogue just stood there, unsure of what to say or do.

Caleb's eyes turned black and forced Reid back just a little bit.

Reid levitated a tank.

"My powers are greater then yours." Caleb notified.

Reid ignored that fact and threw the tank at Caleb anyway.

Caleb easily knocked it out of the way and sent Reid hurtling back into a big pile of glass bottles.

Tyler started to go over to Reid to help him up but was stopped by Caleb. "No Tyler. Reid needs to deal with this by himself."

Tyler looked at Caleb, then back at Reid. He reluctantly walked back into Nicky's with Pogue and Caleb.

When Vanessa snapped out of listening in on them she saw Caleb, Pogue and Tyler walk inside, but not Reid.

Vanessa gets up and walks out back, making sure that none of the guys see her. She looks for Reid, and then see's a movement from a big pile of broken glass. Vanessa runs over to the pile then stops in front of it. "Reid?" He voice sounded concerned. "Are you okay?"

He sat up and brushed himself off. "Im great. Now that you're here." He smiled.

Vanessa smiled. "You don't stop do you?"

"Never." Reid grinned.

She squatted down next to him and helped brush him off. "You sure you're okay?"

He smiled. "Yeah. Help me up?" He asked her.

She smiled and stood up. Reid held out his hand and she took it, helping him up.

Vanessa forgot to let go of his hand, but didn't notice. Reid however did notice, but he made sure not to make a big deal out of it because he wanted to hold it for as long as her could.

"So what happened?" She asked. Even though she knew exactly what happened, she wanted to see what Reid might say.

Reid starts to say something but Vanessa cut him off.

"Before you make up an excuse and lie to me, you should know I saw everything." Vanessa confessed.

Reid stood there. Unsure of what to say. "Yeah. So you know how I know all that stuff on the Salem Witch Trials?" He asked.

Vanessa nodded her head.

Reid paused for a bit. She said that she had seen everything. But how could he be sure that she saw, well everything…

"What did you see exactly?" He asked her.

She chuckled a little at this one. "I saw some things that were definitely not normal."

They walked over to the steps that led back into Nicky's and she sat down. Vanessa crossed her arms over her chest and looked him in the eye. There was no way that he was going to get away with this that easy.

Reid sighed. "You know how people think witchcraft doesn't really exist? That people were delusional went crazy, or there was LSD in the water? Well ... they were wrong." He finished.

Vanessa leaned forward, intrigued by where this was leading.

"The thing is, witchcraft is still around. It's just better hidden and nobody really thinks it's around." He stood in front of her, his eyes glued on her. "In 1692 five families formed a covenant of silence. To protect their identities and their powers. Those families are Pogue, Tyler, Caleb's and mine. We still have the powers Vanessa." He finished.

Vanessa sat there. She knew that something was up with them, but she didn't know that Reid would tell her everything. Part of her was excited because she wasn't completely alone on the whole, powers thing. But the other part of her was confused on what to do next. "Well…are you okay from your fall?" She asked him.

Reid was a bit surprised that she had no questions about his powers and wasn't running away. He laughed. "Yeah I'm fine."

Vanessa see's a small cut on his face. Without thinking, she reaches her hand out to touch it.

Instead of thinking on how far he was on his quest to get into her pants, Reid just enjoyed the fact that she was touching his face. He slowly brings his hand up to his face, and placed it over hers.

Vanessa started to wonder if he just liked her, no strings attached. She let her emotions take over, instead of actually thinking. She leaned in and kissed him.

This had taken Reid by surprise. He had wanted this to happen, but didn't think she would do it. He kissed her back.

Before things could get any deeper, Vanessa's mind wondered back into place. She pushed away and looked at him. Then she ran back into Nicky's.

Reid didn't know what had just happened but ran in and followed her. He grabbed her hand to stop her. "Hey, what was that about?" He asked.

Vanessa shook her head. "Im going to go home."

"Want me to come with you?" He offered.

"No its okay. You can get a ride from Tyler, right?" She asked.

He nodded. He was disappointed, but still confused.

He went over and sat down with the guys.

"What happened?" Tyler asked.

"She didn't see anything did she?" Pogue asked.

Reid shook his head no. He hated lying to them but he wasn't ready to tell them that she knew.

Caleb and Pogue got up to order something to eat, while Sarah and Kate were off dancing.

So that left Tyler and Reid alone.

"I think I really like her." Reid said to Tyler. "She kissed me out there."

"Dude, you're acting like a littler kid." Tyler rested his arm on the table.

"No. SHE kissed ME! As in she initiated." Reid insisted.

"Alright. You sure you didn't hit your head harder then we thought?" Tyler laughed.

Reid laughed but was slightly frustrated that Tyler didn't believe him.

"But you believe me right?" Reid wanted to make sure Tyler did.

"Sure." Tyler shrugged.

Vanessa was driving back to the dorms with a million thoughts racing through her head. "_Well, he has powers too. That must be why we were drawn to each other_." She thought. Then she caught herself. "_Wait, does that mean Im drawn to him_?!"

She didn't even realize what she was doing until she felt his lips on hers. She didn't know what to do besides push back. Vanessa knew that the next time she saw Reid would be…somewhat interesting.

She bit her lip. "_But man, were his lips soft. And warm_." She shook her head, hopefully shaking those thoughts out of her head as well. "I have to get myself together. I can't get attached!" She told herself out loud.

But there was something about Reid. That when she was around him, she couldn't control herself. Not without thinking really hard, and she hated that. She couldn't stop thinking about him lately, and that scared her.

A:N// yay! Vanessa knows about the power now. She kissed him. What next?! I want to Especially thank Michelle! Cus she and I make such a kick ass team and this book would suck so much without her help 


	8. Chapter 8

It was Sunday morning and when Vanessa woke up she had forgotten about last night. But only for a couple of minutes, because when she really came-to all the memories started to flood through her head.

She sat up and thought about Reid. She knew that she had confused him. Vanessa had been invading his thoughts a little bit, and every time she did he had been thinking about her. And not just about getting her into bed. He wanted to know her, spend time with her. He was happy with just the small kiss the night before. Confusion had been running through his head before, with how she had just run off like that.

Vanessa knew she owed him an explanation of her actions. The thing was, she didn't know what to say. She knew she had to talk to him, so she used that to motivate her.

She hopped out of bed and walked over to her closet. It was raining outside so she pulled out a grey Spencer's sweater. She laid a pair of jeans out on her bed with a white t-shirt. Satisfied with outfit selection she changed into them. She only tossed her hair up into a pony-tail and applied a little make-up. She wasn't feeling like herself today. She was tired, confused and somehow felt alone. Vanessa had been longing for company of any kind for as long as she could remember. The thing was that Selene had told her it wasn't the best idea. Considering her future and the chance that she might have to pack up and leave at any moment.

Vanessa was sick of being alone. It didn't necessarily mean that she was going to let everything go and decide to be with Reid. But she knew that she was going to soften up a little bit. She smiled to herself and thought about what she was going to say to him. She honestly had no idea. Vanessa decided to just wing it. She had a slight idea of where his room was, but knew it might take a while.

She left her room and started to walk down the hall. He wasn't on the same floor as her, but was actually above her. That much she knew. On several occasions she thought about simply turning around and going back to her room, but didn't. She was honestly starting to care about Reid, and didn't want him to be confused. Once she finally got to his door she paused for a minute before knocking.

Finally, she knocked on his door. She didn't even know if he was in there, it wasn't something she had thought about until now.

Reid answered it, slightly irritated. When he saw Vanessa he was a bit curious as to why she showed up. She had left him confused last night and that had also annoyed him. He smiled never the less. "Hey"

"Hey." Vanessa smiled.

Reid stood back to let her into his room. She walked in and started to play with her hands. She turned around to look at him and gave a small smile.

He ruffled his hands through his hair and yawned. He had woken up about half an hour ago. "So what's up?" He asked with a smile on his face.

Vanessa looked down at her feet. "I just wanted to apologize for what happened last night."

"What are you sorry about?" Reid asked.

She sighed. "You know. For what happened last night on the steps at Nicky's."

"You mean this." Reid leaned forward and gave her a kiss.

Vanessa gave into to the temptation. She felt his tongue slip into her mouth and she slightly shivered.

He felt her reaction and smiled to himself.

Finally, Vanessa pulled away. "I…I can't do this." She shook her head.

"Why not?" Reid asked. "Your body is telling you otherwise."

Vanessa shook her head. She was getting frustrated. "You don't understand. Sometimes things get complicated and you need to listen to what your head is telling you." Vanessa said. "Not your heart." She said in a low whisper she wasn't sure if Reid had heard her.

"Damnit! Last night I told you possibly the biggest secret I have, and it's still complicated. What's so complicated? I like you, and I think you like me. What the hell is the problem?" He sat on his bed and ran his fingers through his hair.

Vanessa looked at him while he sat on his bed. She felt bad and thought about telling him her secret, but decided otherwise. Instead, she sat down next to him and looked at him. He looked up at her, his ice blue eyes connected with hers.

"I like you Reid, I really do. But it's just that I move around a lot and I can't get attached to people." Vanessa confessed.

"Well, I don't move around, but I'm sure you know Im not really known for well, getting attached to girls. But you're different, Vanessa." Reid told her.

Vanessa crossed her arms. It was not the first time a guy had tried that line on her. "And how am I different?"

"I can't explain it. All I know is I think about you all the time. You're a mystery. I just want to spend time with you. I want to know YOU." Reid felt like he had just poured his heart out.

Vanessa sighed and looked back down at her hands. She didn't know what to say.

"Isn't that enough?" Reid asked, still looking at her.

This wasn't turning out the way she had planned it. Vanessa was falling deeper and deeper into this hole that she kept digging. She was fighting back the urge to just run out of the room.

"What reasons do you have for not being with me?" He asked.

"Some reasons shouldn't be understood." Vanessa said looking up at him.

"But I want to know you Vanessa." Reid told her. "I told you everything about me, and I want you to be able to do the same."

Looking into Reid's eyes she almost told him everything. But she remembered the prophecy and her possible death. She didn't have the gut to tell him that. But since when did she think about others before herself? Reid really WAS changing her. Vanessa was trying to figure out how bad this could affect her. Then she started to wonder if she was changing him, as much as he was changing her.

Although he pretty much just told her that she had changed him, somehow she believed him. She knew guys said that kind of stuff to girls all the time, but the way he said it just sounded so real.

"Why won't you say anything?" Reid asked, getting a bit nervous.

Vanessa looked into his eyes, and felt herself turning soft. "I just…don't want to hurt you." She said.

"Hurt me?!" Reid exclaimed. "I don't think you can hurt me more then what you're doing right now"

She pulled back, surprised by his outburst.

"I mean, you either like me or you don't. Stop all of this in-between bull shit." Reid stood up and looked at her.

Vanessa thought about what she wanted to say. Even though there was the whole prophecy thing, she didn't want to loose Reid. But wasn't it worth it? To stop him from getting hurt in the long run? She felt tears coming to her eyes-she had never felt this way before, there for she had no idea what to do. She just wanted to stop him from getting hurt. But by doing that, she was hurting herself. Vanessa wasn't sure that she had the self-control to resist him much more either.

Reid saw the tears form in her eyes and he felt bad for loosing his temper. He reached out and wiped a tear from her face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scream at you like that. You're just so damn complicated, you know that?"

Vanessa wiped the tears from her eyes. "You think I don't know that?" She laughed in frustration. "I'm just so confused right now."

Reid nodded in understanding. "If there's one thing that I'm not confused about it's that." He began. "But I know you feel the same way I do." Reid placed his hand on her leg.

She looked at it, but didn't push it away. "I just need time to think things over." She said and got up to leave the room.

"I won't wait for you for forever you know." Reid told her.

Vanessa turned around and looked at him sadly. "I know." She turned back around and left his room. When she closed the door she leaned against it. Vanessa thought about everything that had just happened. A voice startled her.

"Everything okay?" It was Tyler.

"Yeah. I'm fine." She walked away and let Tyler into his room.

Tyler walked inside and saw Reid. "What happened?" He asked.

Reid wondered if he looked distressed or something. He looked into the mirror, he didn't think he did. "Nothing…Why?"

"I just found Vanessa leaning on our door. She looked like she was about to burst into tears." Tyler told him.

Reid smiled to himself. He was getting to her more then he thought.

Tyler noticed Reid smile. "That's funny to you?"

"No it's not funny. It just means that I have SOME kind of affect on her."

Tyler shook his head in disappointment. "Only you would like to make girls cry."

"Hey! Maybe I'm not as bad as everyone thinks." Reid defended himself.

"You're not doing such a great job of showing that." Tyler said.

"She's at just as much fault as I am." Reid told him.

"She was the one crying." Tyler retorted.

"She's the one who keeps turning me down. Im the one who just told her everything I was thinking, and barely got anything from her."

Tyler nodded. "Maybe you should just give her some space."

"I don't think you get it. SHE came here." Reid informed his friend.

"Do you know why she came?" Tyler asked.

Reid shook his head. He didn't think that she had said what she had wanted to.

"Maybe there was a reason she came."

"Yeah actually she wanted to apologize for kissing me last night." Reid remembered.

Tyler looked confused.

"So I kissed her again. And let me tell you, she didn't seem sorry about that." Reid grinned to himself.

"You're obviously confusing her."

"Why is it always my fault?!" Reid was getting tired of this shit. "I've been as clear as I can be. She's always confusing me."

"Dude, I've never seen you like this before. This girl really must have affected you." Tyler said.

"No shit Sherlock." Reid said.

"But did you ever consider what's confusing her?" Tyler questioned.

Reid thought about this for a minute. "Well she said she didn't want to hurt me."

Tyler couldn't help but laugh. "Hurt you?!"

"Exactly what I said." Reid told him.

"Maybe you should read more into what she said. I mean, maybe when she said hurt you, she meant something else." Tyler offered.

"Thanks baby boy, I'll get on that."

Vanessa got to her room as fast as she could. She hated it when other people saw her cry. She quickly opened her door and shut it loudly. She ran over to her bed and collapsed on it and started to cry.

She felt like a completely different girl then the one who arrived at Spencer's over a week ago. Could one guy really affect her this much? Part of her wanted to pour her heart out to Reid, and the other just wanted to be left alone. Which side she was going to choose, she had no idea. Intuition or reason? But right now all she wanted to do was cry.

She reached under her bed to find the book that contained her prophecy; she wanted to read it over again to see if she had missed anything. Nothing, still the same words. She might die, and someone she got close to would risk their life for her. Vanessa couldn't explain it; she just knew. She closed the book and held it tight against her chest. She closed her eyes and his face appeared behind her eyelids. Vanessa opened them again. He followed her everywhere, even in her own mind.

Vanessa chucked the book across the room. It landed with a thud. Why did she have to be this way? Why couldn't she be normal? Maybe then she could give in to her feelings for Reid. But she knew he wouldn't like her if she was normal. How much of what he liked in her was her, and the fact that she was hard to get? She thought about the breakfast they had. There was no magic…it was just her. And he liked her.

In a way she wished it wasn't that way. It could be much simpler. If he was just like any other guy who just wanted her because he couldn't have her. And maybe it was like that with Reid at first, but it was so much more now.

She burst into tears again and hid her face in a pillow. She wasn't listening when there was a knock at her door.

Reid however, heard her crying. The door was locked so he used his powers to open it up. He slowly inched in, but something blocked him from opening the door any further. A book. He bent down to pick it up to move it, but was surprised by how old it seemed. He opened it slowly, careful not to break it.

Vanessa heard someone in her room, she snapped her head up. "What the hell are you doing in here?!" She was angry and upset.

Reid looked up to see Vanessa. She had been crying and looked awful. "I was just coming to check in on you."

"I don't need to be checked in on." Now she was pissed.

"Vanessa, you didn't seem okay when you left. I was worried about you." Reid tried to calm her down.

"I was perfectly fine until you got here."

He looked at her. "I don't think crying like that is suitable for perfectly fine."

"Whatever. Why do you care so much anyway?" She snapped at him.

"Vanessa, did you listen to nothing I said back in my room?" Now Reid was getting upset.

"Whatever. Just give me back the book." She reached out for him to give her the book.

"What is it?" He asked.

"None of your concern. Just give it." She shook her hand in irritation.

"No." Reid said.

"Can you stop being so stubborn?" Vanessa asked.

"Aww, what fun would that be?" He teased.

Vanessa was getting pissed. She got up from her bed and went over to grab the book from him.

His eyes turned black and he levitated to the ceiling. He sat Indian style and opened the book.

Vanessa gasped. "Reid Garwin get down here with that book. NOW!" She screamed.

"No. I think I'll just sit here and do some homework."

She was getting angrier by the second, fear washed over her as well. She knew that if Reid read that book he would know what she was. "You have no idea what you're doing." She told him.

"Well I think it's about time I figure some things out." Reid started to read.

**A:N//Yes that was kind of a lot to throw at you guys. I know. And im making it official, my friend Michelle is my official co-writer **

**Major cliffhanger! Will update ASAP!**


	9. Chapter 9

After Reid finished the whole book and Vanessa had thrown various objects at him, Reid was in shock.

"So that's how you always knew when I was outside your room?" Reid asked.

Vanessa's face was buried in her hands. "Yes." She muttered.

"You don't read my mind all the time ... do you?" he asked.

She shook her head no. "Only when I can't figure you out."

"And how often is that?" he asked.

"Well ... a lot." She confessed.

A few books slammed on the floor. Apparently Reid was mad.

"Why didn't you tell me before? When I told you about me?" He asked.

"I guess ... I just wanted to be normal for once. And I liked how it was you who was the weird one, not me." She lifted her face out of her hands.

"Thanks…I guess." Reid mumbled.

"Listen, I'm sorry, okay?" Vanessa said, getting aggravated.

"You don't sound sorry."

"Well, what do you want me to do here?" Vanessa protested.

"I'm not sure." He shook his head. Reid came down from his spot in the air and headed for the door.

"Don't leave." Vanessa told him.

"And why the hell not?" He turned around to face her.

"I don't know." She muttered.

She didn't know why. But she wanted him to stay. No matter how many times she asked him to leave or fuck off, she didn't really mean it.

"You never know, do you? I mean, I wanted to tell you about me Vanessa. I wanted to let you in. I don't do that…with anyone." He paused. "And then I had to force it out of you. Would you have told me about you if I hadn't stumbled upon it?" He asked.

Vanessa bit her lip and thought about it for a minute. She was closer to telling him then anyone. "It's more complicated then that." Vanessa finally said.

"Things are always complicated with you. You are the most complicated girl I've ever met." Reid told her.

"If you don't like that, then you're free to leave." Shit, she did it again. Why did she always tell him stuff like that?

Reid looked at her, and he saw the regret and sadness in her eyes. He then noticed that she was looking at him strangely. "Are you in my head?" He asked her curiously.

Vanessa lost her concentration and shook her head, but turned red anyway. "Umm…maybe."

"Yeah well, don't do that. It's a fucking invasion of privacy." He advised. "I don't want you in my mind."

"I don't want you in mine either!" Did she say that out loud? Shit.

Reid hid the fact that he was happy she practically told him she thought about him a lot. "Okay. Whatever." He turned and without another word, he left the room.

Vanessa sat on her bed in shock. She hadn't expected him to just leave like that. Her thoughts however, were interrupted by Selene.

Selene appeared out of thin air, leaning against Vanessa's wall.

"How long have you been there?" Vanessa asked.

"I just got here. But I'm wondering if I should have showed up earlier." Selene walked over and sat down next to Vanessa. "What happened?"

Vanessa sighed. "Nothing."

Selene couldn't help but laugh a little. "Honey, you don't honestly think you can lie to me?"

Vanessa said nothing.

"You know, I can always read your mind. I don't like to, but I will if your safety depends on it." Selene informed her.

Vanessa just looked at her. She knew Selene would if she didn't speak up soon. "It's just guy trouble."

"What guy would this be?" She raised an eyebrow. Selene knew about the Sons of Ipswich, but hadn't told Vanessa. She needed to figure it out on her own. The Sons were good, and would eventually be a form of protection for Vanessa.

"The one that just left." Vanessa nodded in the direction of the door.

"Would you care to elaborate?" Selene instructed.

Vanessa knew this comment was rhetorical. If she didn't answer, Selene would find another way.

"Reid Garwin." Vanessa didn't notice, but she smiled when she said his name. This little detail however, didn't go un-noticed by Selene.

Selene only looked at Vanessa. She couldn't read Selene's mind, she had blocked her off.

"What?" Vanessa looked at Selene.

"You have feelings for this boy, don't you?" Selene asked. A part of her was happy for Vanessa. The girl had always distanced herself from others, making her constantly lonely. Selene knew this was partly her fault; she had always told Vanessa to never get attached to anyone, but she had only been doing her duty. The other part knew about the danger that this could entail.

Vanessa closed her eyes and thought. "Yes." She confessed. "But I know what you said, and I'm trying really hard to not have feelings for him." She blurted out a bit too quickly.

Selene thought about the prophecy. She knew a guy was involved, and how difficult - close to impossible - it was to change an ancient prophecy.

"It's just so hard to stop, Selene." Shit, was she going to cry again?

"It might not be the end of the world for you to let him in. After all, he may be the one who ends up saving you." Selene pointed out.

Vanessa crossed her arms. As if she needed saving - she could take care of herself. That's what she's been doing her whole life after all. Of course with the help of Selene, but she's been perfectly fine.

"_But have you been happy_?" She questioned herself. No, she hadn't been. She had been lonely and miserable. With Reid, suddenly all of these emotions had been set free. Emotions she never knew she had.

She thought about her breakfast with Reid. She was happy then. And when she had kissed him. Nothing but happiness…well except when she figured out what she was doing. Then when he had kissed her unexpectedly. She had wanted nothing more but to give in, but knew that she had to stay within her temptations.

"Stop being so stubborn Vanessa." Selene scolded. "Do you like this boy or not?"

"I think…I might."

"That doesn't sound very definite." Selene pointed out.

"But you always-."Vanessa got cut off in mid-sentence.

"I know what I always told you. But I was doing my duty, now I'm telling you this because I care about you."

Vanessa looked up at Selene. She knew that she had to tell her the truth. "I think…I think I'm falling in love with him." Vanessa couldn't believe those words came out of her mouth. She wasn't thinking and had blurted them out. Yet she knew that they were true.

Selene nodded her head in approval. "I just came by to tell you that you should be watching your back. Be more cautious."

Vanessa nodded and understood what to do.

"I think you have a lot to figure out, Vanessa. And don't be afraid to get attached to this boy, he is most likely the one from the prophecy." Selene stood up to leave.

"I'll keep that in mind." Vanessa nodded.

And with that Selene disappeared similar to the way that she had appeared. Once again, Vanessa was left alone. She started to pace around her room.

Vanessa's cell phone started to ring and she walked over to it. Before she picked it up, she checked to see who it was. Sarah. She decided to answer it. "Hey Sarah." Vanessa tried to sound happy.

"Hey Vanessa. Do you want to come to Nicky's tonight?"

"Not really. I have a lot on my mind." Vanessa confessed.

"Come on it will be fun! It will help you get your mind off of things." Sarah urged.

"I don't know…" She trailed off and sounded unsure.

"I just talked to Caleb and he said that Reid was staying in tonight. Weird huh?" Sarah didn't know that this was probably Vanessa's fault.

"Yeah that's weird." Vanessa lied. "Fine, I'll go."

She heard Sarah squeal with delight on the other end. "Awesome. I'll be by your room with Kate in like, 20 minutes, okay?"

"Okay." Vanessa hung up the phone.

Vanessa didn't feel like going out tonight, but she knew that it would get her mind off of things like Sarah had said. She pulled out a short jean mini-skirt that was torn in different places, then picked a blood-red halter top and changed her clothing. She walked into the bathroom and put a lot of eye-liner on so her eyes stood our more. When she finished, she looked in the mirror to admire the final outcome. Her eyes were piercing and stunningly fierce.

A knock on the door startled Vanessa slightly. She walked over and opened it up. Kate and Sarah stood on the other side. They looked at her and grins appeared on their faces. "You look awesome." Sarah exclaimed.

"Not awesome. Vanessa, you look hot!" Kate shrieked.

Despite how she was felt, Vanessa smiled. "Let's go." She closed and locked her door.

The girls walked out to Sarah's car and headed to Nicky's.

**A:N// Yeah sort of short. But there's more coming. Thanks to Michelle, my co-writer. She's got the most kick-ass ideas.**

**A:N part 2// Michelle here! Keelie and I are having tons of fun writing this, so please review if you like it. We love hearing suggestions from our readers, and who knows, we might incorporate your ideas. **


	10. Chapter 10

The girls all got into the car. They started to drive when Kate and Sarah gave each other a look.

"What?" Vanessa asked.

"So, now we've got you trapped. Spill on Reid." Kate turned around in her seat and grinned at Vanessa.

"We promise we won't tell." Sarah looked at Vanessa through her rear-view mirror.

Vanessa sighed. Wasn't it obvious what was going on between her and Reid? She realized she had to tell something to get them to stop bugging her. She felt like she was being bombarded.

"Isn't it obvious?" She asked out loud.

"Isn't WHAT obvious?" Sarah questioned, clearly leading her on.

Vanessa shrugged. "I think he likes me."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Well from what I've seen, the liking each other thing goes more then one way."

Vanessa felt her cheeks turn red. Why couldn't she be better at concealing her emotions?

Sarah noticed the redness in her cheeks. "You so like him!" she squealed.

"I knew it." Kate turned back around in her seat.

"It doesn't matter anymore," Vanessa mumbled under her breath.

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked. "Of course it matters. You like him and he likes you." She raised her eyebrows a bit.

"Things are kind of complicated." Vanessa looked out the window.

Sarah thought about everything that had happened with her and Caleb. She looked over at Vanessa, trying to see if she knew anything about the Sons. But Vanessa was looking out the window, and besides, something like that was impossible to tell if someone knew. Sarah decided to let it go; if Reid told her, then surely he would have mentioned that Sarah knew as well. And she hoped that Vanessa could come to her with something like that.

The rest of the car ride consisted of small conversations and other various topics. They pulled up to Nicky's and all got out of the car. Sarah was super pumped to party, along with Kate. Vanessa however, was not. She was feeling upset and tired.

When they got inside Nicky's they were immediately surrounded by Caleb and Pogue. Tyler was there, but drifting to the corner, acting a little weird. He was going to stay with Reid because his friend had been drinking by himself, but Reid kicked him out. Tyler knew that Reid really liked Vanessa and he thought Vanessa really liked him. He just didn't want Reid to mess this up.

Caleb looked over at Vanessa and smiled. "I'm glad you decided to come out tonight."

Vanessa smiled back. She thought Caleb and Sarah were so cute together. She thought for a minute, wondering if she and Reid could be like that, but decided that things were always going to be complicated for her. She looked over at Tyler, who was giving her weird glances.

"Everything okay?" she asked him. Vanessa knew he was shy, but he would normally at least look at her.

Tyler nodded his head yes, but still meet her gaze. Vanessa narrowed her eyes at him. Did she dare read his mind? She concentrated and started to delve into his thoughts. Images started to flow into her own mind. Reid, with a small bottle of vodka, and telling Tyler to get the fuck out. When she pulled out she was in shock. She didn't know she had this big of an effect on him. It was then that she realized Selene was right, she couldn't continue to block Reid off.

Pogue noticed Vanessa's odd expression on her face. "You okay?" he asked.

Vanessa snapped out of it and shook her head. "Yeah I'm fine. I just…got caught up in my own thoughts." She faked a smile.

He nodded.

"Come on we're going to go find a table," Sarah said, walking over to an empty table and sitting down.

"Save a seat for me. I've just got to make a call," Vanessa told them as she walked off into a corner of the bar where she could hear.

She dialed Reid's cell phone number. It rang and rang and then finally went to voicemail. She didn't bother leaving a message, instead she just hung up. Vanessa brought her cell phone to her chin before putting it back into her pocket and walking back over to the table.

"What was that about?" Sarah asked.

"Nothing." Vanessa sat down at the table.

Tyler looked worried. He wondered if Vanessa called Reid. He looked over at her, and she looked pretty composed. So he figured nothing happened.

"So where is Reid anyway?" Kate asked.

Before anyone could say anything, Vanessa got up to pick a song from the jukebox.

"What's up with her?" Pogue asked.

Sarah smiled. "I think she likes Reid."

Kate and Sarah giggled. The guys all looked at Tyler for answers; they figured Reid would have told him something.

"I don't know anything." He threw his hands in the air.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Sure you don't."

"You've always sucked at lying Baby Boy," Pogue chuckled.

Caleb laughed and patted Tyler on the back. "Come on. Fess up."

Tyler shrugged. "He was just kind of tired tonight. So he decided to stay in." He hoped to God that everyone would buy that.

"Since when does Reid turn down a party?" Caleb raised his eyebrows.

Shit. "I don't know," Tyler shrugged.

"Never," Sarah responded.

"Well maybe things are changing." Nobody had noticed that Vanessa had returned to the table.

Sarah was surprised on how much this conversation had offended Vanessa. She looked over at Kate who rolled her eyes, and then signaled that they should drop the conversation.

Vanessa sat down and felt uncomfortable in the newly found awkward silence. "Anybody want anything to drink?" she asked, standing back up.

"I'll have whatever's on tap," Pogue answered, flashing her his killer smile.

"I'll just sip from that," Kate added.

"Just a coke for me," Caleb said.

Vanessa looked over at Sarah who was getting up from her seat. "No its fine. I've got it," she told Sarah.

"There's no way you can carry all of that," Sarah laughed. "Besides, I used to waitress."

Vanessa agreed; she really didn't want to cause a scene. The girls walked up to the bar.

"Sorry about that. Sometimes the guys don't know when enough is enough," Sarah apologized. She was hoping to maybe get something out of Vanessa, but was starting to realize that the girl would never open up. At least not any time in the near future.

"It's okay," Vanessa responded. "To tell you the truth I don't really know what's going on between Reid and I. It's all very complicated."

Sarah never thought of Reid as the complicated type; he tended to be the most straightforward of the group. She wondered again... no. Vanessa would come to her if he told her about the Sons. But then again, what else could she be referring to that was so complicated?

"What do you mean by complicated?" she prodded, glad that Vanessa was at least talking about it.

Vanessa looked at Sarah, wondering briefly if she knew about the powers of the Sons. After all, she was dating Caleb, and from the looks of it, the two had been together for a while. She made a mental note to ask Reid if Caleb told Sarah. Not that it really mattered - there was no way she was letting her new friend know about herself. Sarah was the closest thing she had to a real friend - besides Selene, but that didn't really count - and it was a new experience for her.

"Nothing really," she shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay," Sarah sighed. She was getting rather frustrated with how hard it was getting Vanessa to open up to her.

Vanessa's curiosity and longing to spill her guts out to someone started to get the better of her. She could always read Sarah's mind, right? She concentrated and started to go into Sarah's head. Images started to flash through her own mind. When she was all done she pulled out and said nothing. Sarah did know, Vanessa didn't really doubt that. Still, she decided it was best to not bring up the whole matter.

The drinks appeared on the counter before the conversation could continue. Vanessa paid with her credit card, not wanting Sarah to have to pay.

They managed to carry all of the drinks between the two of them and headed back to the table. Vanessa was glad to get away from Sarah's questions.

Once they were situated again, she saw Kate give Sarah a look to see if Sarah got any information about Vanessa and Reid. Sarah shook her head no. Vanessa found it kind of funny that the girls didn't think she knew what was going on, and was getting kind of irritated with how they wouldn't stop trying to get her to talk about it. Vanessa almost blurted out for them to just leave it alone, but bit her tongue at the last second.

"I think I'm just gonna head out," she said, not wanting to lose her temper. Even though they were annoying her right now, she still considered everyone at the table her friend. And she didn't want to lose that.

Tyler got a look of concern on his face. "Come on Vanessa; just stay for a bit longer," he pleaded.

"How are you going to get back to the dorms?" Sarah asked. After all, she had given Vanessa a ride here.

"I'm starting to get a headache," she lied. Well, it wasn't a total lie. She was gonna get one soon enough if everyone didn't stop bugging her.

"I can just get a cab," she reassured everyone.

"Well if you stay a bit longer then you won't have to waste the money on one," Tyler pointed out.

"It's alright, I've got it," she smiled, wondering why someone as rich as Tyler would stop to consider the money issue. He must really have a reason for wanting her to stay.

It was tempting for Vanessa to read Tyler's mind to see what he was up to. But she knew that if she did it there then everyone would surely know that she was doing something odd.

Before anyone could say another word Vanessa turned around and left Nicky's. She sighed with relief when she got outside. She walked over to the road and hailed a taxi, stopping the first one that drove by. She climbed in and told the driver the address of the school.

She took the time to herself in the cab to think about everything that was going on. She couldn't stop thinking about Reid. She had to go and tell him how she really felt. Vanessa couldn't deny it any longer. She sat back against the seat, satisfied with her decision. She hated when she didn't know what to do, and was glad to have finally made up her mind.

The cab finally pulled up to Spencer's and she paid the cab driver with a nice tip. Vanessa climbed out of the car and took a deep breath as the cab drove away into the night. If she was going to do this, she might as well do it now.

She walked up to Reid's door, taking a deep breath. She actually felt ... nervous. But she knew she was doing the right thing. She smiled, trying to imagine Reid's reaction. Vanessa couldn't wait to feel his lips on hers again. Before knocking on his door, she ran her hand through her hair, making sure it didn't get messed up from the wind. Once she was confident she looked great, she knocked, and waited for him to answer.

"Just a minute," she heard his voice inside, and some scrambling around. She wondered if he had fallen asleep or something.

Reid filled the doorway, blocking anyone's view to his room. "What do you want...?" he sounded irritated. His eyes focused a bit, allowing him to take in who was at the door. "Vanessa!" he gasped. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to..." Vanessa paused, looking him over. He only had on a pair of jeans, and his hair looked a bit disheveled. "What are you doing anyway?" she pushed the door open to look inside his room.

Reid stumbled backwards – apparently, he had been drinking. She looked inside and saw a bleached blonde girl she recognized from her science class. She always thought the girl looked like a total slut.

"Hey Vanessa," the girl smiled slyly at her.

Vanessa looked back over at Reid. He wouldn't meet her eyes. She was pissed and invaded the girl's mind without thinking that she might not like what she was going to see. Images of the two of them filled her head. Reid's hands all over her... she pulled out of her mind, not wanting to see any more. She gasped and covered her mouth in shock.

"What the hell," she asked Reid, her voice sounding much calmer then she felt. Inside, she was fuming. She didn't know which emotion to latch on to; she wanted to throw things and break down and cry at the same time.

"I'm sorry," Reid finally spoke, still avoiding her gaze.

"Go to hell," she sneered, turning around and slamming the door in his face.

She held back tears, but it was really hard. They weren't even dating so she couldn't get that mad at him. But she was hurt and felt like she had been punched in the stomach and slapped across the face. She ran up to her room, wanting to get there before another student witnessed her bursting into tears.

**Back in Reid's dorm…**

Reid stood there in shock. The sound of his phone ringing brought him back, and he looked at the display to see who was calling him. Tyler. He hit the ignore button. He didn't want to deal with Tyler right now.

"Get out of here," he said, turning around to face the blonde, throwing her shirt in her face.

His eyes glinted with anger, and she left as soon as she got herself together. Not without squeezing in a quick "call me sometime." Reid didn't respond. He didn't know her number. Nor did he care to get it.

"Fuck!" he screamed and he sat down on his bed, taking another swig of vodka. He screwed up big time. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

He closed his eyes, trying to clear his mind and let the alcohol take over. But all he could see was the look on Vanessa's face when she realized what was going on. The mirror in his bathroom shattered and he felt his blood boil with anger. Anger at himself, for doing this to her. Something good finally happened to him, and he destroyed it. He could only imagine his reputation now. Reid Garwin - total fuckup. He would never be as perfect as Caleb, as effortlessly confident as Pogue, or as nice as Tyler.

He had to see her. He threw on a sweatshirt, his beanie, and his black fingerless gloves. He ran through the hallway, stumbling every now and then, not caring who saw him. He had to get to her room.

Reid could hear her crying from outside the door. He put his hand on the doorknob, and turned it, too drunk to think to knock.

Once inside, he collapsed on her floor, sitting on his knees, and looked up to where she was lying on her bed.

"What don't you get about 'leave me the fuck alone?'" she got off her bed and walked toward him, pulling her arm back as if about to take a swing at him. He grabbed her arm before she could do anything, holding her as close as he could possibly manage.

"I can't leave you alone, Vanessa," his blue eyes stared straight into hers. "I can't stop thinking about you. But you kept turning me down. Over and over." He leaned against her for support. "I just couldn't take it anymore."

"Yea well, you made that quite obvious." She pulled away from him, leaving him standing alone. "Is that why you called that slut?"

"I didn't call her." He looked down to the ground. "She needed some help with her homework, so she called me and I told her to come over. So she did, and we talked for a bit. And drank. And then..." he blew a piece of hair out of his face, "I don't know what happened," he pleaded.

"Yea, well, she certainly did." Vanessa ran her hands through her hair, trying to get the images of them out of her head. Just thinking about her made her burst into tears again. She looked back up at Reid her eyes piercing into his.

"Vanessa, I was drunk," he begged.

"And just think. I came over there to tell you I was sorry. That I was WRONG!" She picked a book up off her counter and threw it at him.

It hit him in the arm, causing him to lose his balance and collide into the wall behind him. He leaned against it, sliding down to eventually sit on the ground.

"I'm sorry." She felt her eyes fill with tears again and looked at him sitting on the ground. He looked so helpless. No matter how mad she was, she still cared about him.

He looked up and saw the tears that were sliding down her face. "Please don't cry Vanessa." He shook his head.

She tentatively walked over to him, sitting down next to him.

"Sorry for throwing the book at you," she said, placing her hand on his arm, hoping she didn't actually hurt him.

"I'll survive." He still wouldn't look at her.

She placed her hand on his cheek, forcing him to look into her eyes. "Why did you do it?" she asked.

"Because I love you." He paused, realizing what he just said. "And you kept rejecting me. What the hell was I supposed to do? I put everything out there, and you gave me nothing back."

Vanessa realized that it was her fault. Wasn't she the one always telling him to stay away from her? That she didn't care for him? That she didn't care at all?

**A:N// Yay! Sorry this took sooo long. I had a very busy weekend and so did Michelle. But chapter 11 will be up really soon!**


	11. Chapter 11

"You don't love me Reid," Vanessa insisted while shaking her head.

"What will it take to get it through your head?!" he said angrily. He turned to face her and placed his hands on her cheeks, meeting her lips with his before she had time to respond.

This time, Vanessa didn't fight to get away from Reid. She deepened the kiss, putting her arms around his neck and pulling him closer. He kissed her softly, not wanting to push her away again; taking in every moment she let herself go, so as to not forget a single moment.

After a few minutes, Vanessa broke the kiss, pulling away slowly, but leaving her arms around his neck. "You still don't love me," she whispered, "you're drunk. You don't know what you're saying."

"They don't call it truth juice for nothing," Reid said, laughing a bit. "Besides, I'm feeling fine now."

She looked down, not knowing what to say.

"Look into my eyes," Reid told her, and she brought her eyes back to meet his. "I love you, Vanessa," he repeated. "And I know you love me too. Deny it, and I'll leave. I promise."

Looking into his eyes, she knew he was telling the truth. The scary thing was, she knew she loved him too. She couldn't lie to him. She didn't want to lie anymore. Saying it would only make things harder on her, but not saying it would only make things harder for him. Not to mention he would leave her and she didn't want that.

Reid looked at her expectantly. She had to say something.

"I love you, Reid," she said quietly, not meeting his eyes when she said it. The next thing she knew, his lips were on hers again.

"Say it again," he told her, breaking the kiss for a moment, his lips still practically still touching hers.

"I love you," she said, looking into his eyes this time. "I have for a while now. I just ..." she paused, forgetting for a moment why she kept pushing him away.

"You just what?" he asked, stroking her cheek lightly with his finger. She closed her eyes, taking in his touch.

She sighed. "Well you read that book right?"

Reid looked confused. "Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything? So you're going to fight in this war to protect this chick. So what?"

Vanessa's stomach fell and she didn't have the heart to tell him that the "chick" was her. "You don't get it, do you?" she asked, looking sadly into his eyes. She thought he understood. Apparently, he didn't. This was only going to make things harder.

"I don't know," she responded, curling up closer to him and placing her head on his shoulder. She felt his hand run through her hair, and looked up, examining his perfect profile. He really was incredible. He looked down at her and smiled.

"Please don't push me away again," he whispered, "I don't know if I could take it, especially after tonight."

"I don't think I could," she replied, closing her eyes and listening to his steady breathing. What had she gotten herself into?

He smiled and continued running his hand through her hair. He rested his chin on the top of her head. "Good," he said.

"You know, I never really let anyone in," he said seriously, "but with you, everything changed. It was as if I locked myself off, not letting anyone in. I wasn't actually sad, but never happy either. Then you came into my life, and nothing was the same anymore. Even when you said you didn't want anything to do with me, part of me knew that you didn't really mean it, even though it was hard at times. But I know for sure that I don't want to return to where I was before. I don't think I could, not after I know what it is to really love someone. You're everything to me, Vanessa."

Vanessa lifted her head from his shoulder, so she could look into his eyes. Everything he just said, it was exactly how she felt. So why couldn't she say it? What was holding her back? She could feel him looking back at her, waiting for a response.

"It's just ... the prophecy," she started, "I'm the girl in it."

Reid looked confused. He already knew she was in the prophecy. He shook his head. "Yeah I know." He still didn't get why this was such a big deal.

"I don't think you get it." She didn't want to spell it out for him, but she didn't really have a choice. "The girl who dies in the prophecy. It's me."

She felt his body grow hard. She looked up at him – he was so still; he looked like it was made of stone.

"No," he said, finally moving, "it doesn't have to be."

Vanessa shook her head sadly. "Reid, it's the prophecy. It's what's meant to be."

"It doesn't have to be like that," he insisted, pulling back a bit to lean against the wall. He ran his hands through his hair, thinking. "We can change it," he concluded, looking back up at her. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

_Sweet_, Vanessa thought to herself. _But so naive._ Didn't he understand that once a prophecy was written it was bound to come true? Just thinking about it made tears form behind her eyes. She tried her hardest to make sure they wouldn't slip out, but she knew that once she blinked that they would start to fall.

She scooted herself over to where he sat, leaning her body against his. She felt his arm wrap protectively around her shoulders.

He kissed the top of her head. "I won't let anything happen to you," he whispered.

"I know," she responded. And a part of her did know. Knew he would try, at least. Maybe once she was killed, she would be able to still see him, to watch over him.

She wondered again why she was allowing herself to cause him even more pain. Sure, he might believe she was hurting him before. But that was nothing compared to how he would feel when she was gone.

"Just promise you won't close yourself off again," she pleaded. "After I'm gone ... I want you to be happy."

"It's not gonna be an issue," he said stubbornly. "You're not going anywhere."

Vanessa sighed and shook her head. It was no use convincing him of what she knew was going to happen. Shouldn't she just live in the moment? If she didn't, she knew she would only be sour and depressed until that day finally came.

He clearly wasn't going to accept her fate now. However, she wasn't going to stop trying to make him understand. He probably just needed a bit of time for it to sink in. Then he would come to terms with it, and decide not to cause himself more pain. Apparently she would never be happy. Not even in her last month.

She leaned against him and closed her eyes, deciding to just enjoy the time she had. She felt him pull her closer, and she didn't resist his touch.

Vanessa sat there for a few minutes, thinking through everything that just happened. When she looked back up at Reid, she saw his eyes were closed and his breathing was steady. Watching him sleep, he looked so at peace. She didn't want to ruin that. She allowed herself to drift into her own thoughts, and before she knew it she felt her eyelids grow heavy until they finally closed completely.

Several hours passed and Reid woke up. He glanced over at Vanessa's digital clock on her nightstand. The bright red numbers read 3 in the morning. Tyler would probably give him shit when he got back. Reid looked down and saw that Vanessa was asleep. He smiled at how calm she looked. It seemed like every time he saw her she was either blocking herself off or very angry. It was nice to see her totally unguarded. He slowly and carefully picked her up, trying to not wake her, and walked over to her bed.

"What time is it?" Vanessa asked sleepily, not realizing she fell asleep.

Reid laid down beside her, taking her in his arms. "It's late," he replied, "go back to sleep."

"Stay with me?" She still wasn't completely awake.

"I was planning on it," he replied, feeling a smile come to his lips.

"Good," she whispered, shuffling around slightly and eventually resting her head on his chest, listening to the steady beating of his heart.

Reid didn't fall back asleep. Instead, he stared at the ceiling, thinking about what she said tonight about the prophecy. He was gonna change her fate, or die trying.

Vanessa wasn't actually sleeping. She just needed some time to think, and she was enjoying just being in his arms. Eventually she felt him drift off, and she let her mind wander.

Two hours later, she quickly opened her eyes. She wished she didn't fall back asleep. Sleeping was what brought on the premonitions. They were rare, so when they did come, they were important. She didn't actually see anything this time, but she could feel it. Someone was coming after her. They wanted her power, and they knew where she was. They weren't there yet, but it wouldn't be long.

She looked over at Reid and gently pushed herself out his arms, walking into the bathroom to throw some cold water on her face. She looked into the reflection of her own eyes, and saw a change in herself. It was like she could actually see the disappearance of the wall she always surrounded herself with. It seemed so unfair - the moment she discovered she could be who she always wanted to be, it was too late.

Standing there, looking into her own reflection, she knew she wasn't gonna let this go without a fight. Before she came to Spencer she never thought about fighting for her life. She always assumed that she had nothing to live for; that her fate was already decided. But now, now she had Reid and actual friends. She wasn't going to throw that away.

Plus, he wanted to help her. So she was gonna let him. As long as he didn't put himself in any danger.

She left the bathroom and closed the door quietly, not wanting to wake him. _Here goes nothing_, she thought, wondering if this could possibly work.


	12. Chapter 12

Vanessa waited around for Reid to wake up. He didn't wake up until 11 and in that time she managed to finish some homework, grab a coffee and take a jog.

She was trying to get her mind off the prophecy. A couple of times she forgot about it completely, but then it immediately returned to her head. She even considered forgetting last night entirely and going back to where things were before. But every time she replayed each individual moment, she realized she couldn't just push Reid away.

When he finally awoke she was doing homework while curled up in her chair. Her iPod earphones were stuck in her ears and she concentrated on calculus.

Reid rubbed his eyelids and looked around to find Vanessa. When he saw her on the chair he smiled to himself and stretched before getting up.

Vanessa didn't notice that Reid was awake.

He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. His very presence made it impossible for her to concentrate on homework. She closed the book shut with her papers inside, dropping it to the ground and smiling at him. "I didn't know you were awake," she said, taking the earphones out.

"I just woke up," he whispered in her ear. "How long have you been up?"

Vanessa smiled. "A while." The memories of her premonition started to drift through her thoughts and she silently dismissed them. Around Reid, it was so easy to forget everything and just pretend she was normal for once.

The thing was, she wasn't sure if that was good or bad. If she really did want to beat the prophecy, she couldn't just allow herself to just remove it from her thoughts. That sure wouldn't help anything.

"What are you thinking about?" Reid asked, turning around to sit on top of her desk, pushing her schoolbooks to the floor.

"Hey!" Vanessa protested, "I was working on that."

"Not anymore," he replied, stretching out on the flat surface.

Vanessa laughed and shook her head. "Apparently not."

After Reid situated himself, he looked back over at Vanessa. "You looked really intense for a moment back there," he started, "is everything alright?"

Vanessa smiled, knowing he would like what she was about to say.

"I made a decision," she said slowly, taking a deep breath before continuing. She knew if she said what she was thinking, there would be no turning back. "If we're gonna beat this prophecy, we need to work together. I don't think I can do it alone," she admitted.

Reid smiled and grabbed her hand. "That's the attitude," he said, looking in her eyes. "We can't beat this thing if we don't at least try."

What he said made sense. She knew that whatever was after her was stronger then her, and she doubted she could beat it without help. That was why a part of her always sort of accepted her fate. She just wasn't sure if she wanted Reid to put up his life for her. If she didn't succeed, it would mean the death of both of them.

"But," she began. "You have to promise me that whatever you do, you won't put your life in danger."

"I don't know how you expect me to not be in danger while helping you fight this evil ... thing," he said sarcastically.

Once again, he made an excellent point.

"I don't know what to do," she complained, leaning against her desk. "The only way I have a chance to live is with help. But if you help, you might ..." she let her words trail off, not wanting to say what she was thinking.

"I know," Reid said, squeezing her hand, "but you're everything to me. If I lost you, I might as well be dead."

Vanessa smiled. "If anyone dies it will be me," she explained. "Understand?" She looked into her eyes with a piercing glare.

"It won't be an issue, because no one's gonna die," Reid said stubbornly. "Now, do you wanna get lunch? I'm starving over here. If we've got a battle to fight, we gotta be well fed."

She wished she could take the whole thing as lightly as him. Then again, it wasn't his life on the line here. Looking over at him, she saw that he didn't look quite so calm when he didn't think she was watching.

She laughed and got up from her chair. "I was starting to wonder when you were going to ask that. Your stomach has been growling for the past hour."

Reid laughed and jumped down from the desk. He walked over to Vanessa and grabbed her hand. They walked out of her dorm and she shut the door behind them. "Let's just go to the cafeteria," she said.

"Sounds good to me," Reid responded. Food was food, and he needed some now.

When they arrived in the cafeteria, not many people were there. Vanessa guessed that everyone was either out or in their dorms. Nobody usually bothered with lunch in the cafeteria. Most people went out.

They walked over to where the food was and started to look around.

"I'll meet you at the cashier," Reid called to her, walking over to the breakfast area.

Vanessa nodded and walked off to find something to satisfy her craving. What she really wanted was a cheeseburger. She kept looking and looking until she found one.

After getting her cheeseburger, Vanessa walked over to where Reid stood, waiting for her. She almost dropped her plate from laughing so hard when she recognized the familiar colors of Berry Berry Kix in his cereal bowl.

"What?" Reid asked innocently.

"You're eating Berry Kix," Vanessa pointed out. Just saying it made her start laughing all over again.

"Thanks for pointing that out," he rolled his eyes.

All Vanessa did was laugh. She couldn't help that Berry Berry Kix made her think of a two-year old.

Vanessa and Reid paid for their food and went to search for a table. They found one easily and sat down.

Before they even began eating, Caleb and Tyler sat down in two of the empty chairs. They didn't say anything about Reid's breakfast choice. She supposed they were used to it.

"Hey man. What happened to you last night?" Caleb asked Reid.

"Just decided to stay in," he responded, taking a bite of his cereal.

Tyler looked at Reid, and then over to Vanessa. They seemed okay, so he decided nothing too bad went down the night before.

"Alright," he shrugged his shoulders. Yea, it was unlike Reid to pass up on a party, but as long as everything was cool, he didn't really care.

Vanessa looked up as someone else sat at their table.

_What the hell…_ she thought. It was the blonde girl from the night before.

Reid wasn't so quick to contain his thoughts. "What the fuck are you doing?" he asked the blonde.

A second later, her bowl of cereal spilled over and milk landed all over the girls lap. Vanessa could hardly contain her laughter. She watched as the blonde girl turned totally red from embarrassment before getting up and leaving them alone.

"I'll go get some napkins," Vanessa said, getting up and walking to the other side of the cafeteria where the silverware and napkins were.

Caleb shot Reid a burning glare. "What the hell was that?"

"Long story," Reid mumbled. "But that chick seriously needed to fuck off."

"What don't you get about 'don't use in public?'" Caleb asked, slamming his fork on the table. "'That chick' could have seen. Or even worse, Vanessa!"

"See, that's the thing," Reid started, "Vanessa...well, she kinda knows. About us."

Before Caleb could retaliate, Vanessa returned to the table with a handful of napkins, and began cleaning up the milk. She noticed that there was an awkward silence, so she cleaned up quickly and walked away to throw the napkins away.

Caleb knew this conversation would have to continue somewhere else. He glared at Reid once more before jabbing his fork into his French toast and taking a bite.

"Don't get so worked up about it," Reid said, "it's all fine. Trust me."

Tyler laughed a bit at this comment. Trust Reid? Since when?

"Dude, it's not funny!" he said, "I mean it. It's totally fine."

Caleb clenched his jaw, too angry to say anything.

Vanessa returned and sat down. She still felt awkward, but there was no excuse to leave now. She just had to suck it up and stay. She was tempted to search the minds of everyone around her to see what had happened, but didn't want to intrude on their personal thoughts.

She felt Reid's hand take hers under the table, and she looked up at him and smiled. She was glad he was able to sense how uncomfortable she was.

"So what happened with _you_ last night Vanessa?" Tyler asked.

"Just headed back to the dorms," she said before taking a bite of her cheeseburger.

She didn't really feel like it was her place to let Caleb and Tyler know what happened last night. They were Reid's friends - he should be the one to tell them. Plus, it wasn't really the place for that kind of conversation.

Tyler knew she obviously spent some time with Reid last night. All night, from the look of things. But he didn't want to pry, seeing as Vanessa made it quite obvious she didn't want to talk about it now.

Reid finished his cereal. "Come with me to put my tray away," he said to Vanessa. He gave the boys a look letting them know he was going to tell her what just happened, and got out of his chair. Vanessa followed him.

"I sort of ... told them I told you," he said to her softly. "I think they're a little well, pissed, to say the least. I need to talk with them, but I'll call you after."

"Alright," Vanessa said, looking over her shoulder to look at Tyler and Caleb. They were conversing quietly, and didn't see her looking at them.

"I hope it goes okay," she said, squeezing his hand to wish him good luck.

"It will be fine," he reassured her, "when I'm finished talking to them, we'll all be fighting on your side." He sounded more confident then he looked.

"I have some homework I need to do anyway," she told him. "Just come by when everything's settled, okay?"

Reid nodded his head and Vanessa gave him a quick peck before walking out of the cafeteria.

He walked back to the table where his friends sat waiting for him. "I think we need to continue this conversation somewhere else, boys," he told them.

"Call Pogue," Caleb instructed Tyler, "we need all of us to be here."

Tyler nodded and pulled out his cell-phone. "Pogue. We need to have a meeting, you know where." He shut his phone.

Thirty minutes later the four boys sat around a fire, waiting for Reid to explain why he told Vanessa.

"First of all, you need to stop being such a hypocrite," Reid said to Caleb. "Of course it's okay for you to tell Sarah, but the second I tell the girl I love, everyone acts like I did something awful."

"Don't even start comparing you and Vanessa to me and Sarah," Caleb said. "Sarah was in danger. I told her to save her."

"And why do you think it's any different then me and Vanessa?" Reid was getting angry. "Hell, Vanessa's in even MORE danger then Sarah ever was!"

Caleb sat there, waiting for Reid to explain.

"And since when have you been in love?" Tyler scoffed in the background.

Reid turned and glared at Tyler, deciding to ignore his friend's comment.

"Vanessa's in this prophecy. She's in the middle of this huge conflict between two sides. Basically, if they kill her and get her powers, everyone's screwed."

"Vanessa has powers now?" Pogue asked.

Reid nodded. "It said she's had them since she was 10."

"So, she's one of us?" Tyler questioned.

"Not quite," Reid responded. "Her powers are different. She doesn't age like we do. That's why they want to steal her powers so badly."

"So, what can her powers do?" Pogue raised his eyebrows, intrigued.

Caleb just sat there, listening. He didn't like to be wrong.

"Well she has no control over the power deep inside of her that they are fighting for," Reid started, "but she does have her own abilities."

"What sort of abilities?" Tyler asked.

Reid thought for a minute. He honestly didn't know how many she had. He only knew she could read minds. If he told the guys that, then they might not be comfortable around her. "I'm not quite sure."

"When's she supposed to die?" Pogue asked. "If we're gonna help you save her, we kinda have to know that."

Reid tried to think back to the book he had read. He couldn't remember. He thought something as important as that he would be able to remember.

"I don't know," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"So for all you know, it could be tomorrow," Caleb stated.

"Or now," Tyler added.

An image of Vanessa dead flashed through Reid's mind. And it would be his fault if she died right now - he left her alone, without knowing everything he should have.

He sat down and buried his head in his hands.

"Listen man, calm down," Pogue shot a glance to Tyler - the guys weren't used to Reid being so emotional. "If she was gonna die today, she would have said something."

Reid looked back up at them. Pogue had a point. He blew out a breath and sighed.

"I just need your help guys. I was there to protect Sarah; I'm just asking the same. I really do love her."

"You know we've always been there for each other, and that isn't gonna change now," Caleb finally said.

Reid looked at his friend and smiled. He knew Caleb - and the other guys - would come through for him.

"Thanks guys. I just have no clue on how to do this."

"Just be there for her," Tyler said. "That's what she needs right now."

"Since when did you become such an expert, baby boy?" Reid laughed.

"I'm not as out of it as you all think!" Tyler said defensively. "Besides, that hot blonde gave me her number." He waved the piece of paper in the air.

"Right," Pogue rolled his eyes, "she's totally not your type."

Tyler looked at Pogue. "And how do you know what my type is?"

"Come on, she's probably slept with half the school. Only a man-whore would go for her," he shot a glance at Reid.

"I wasn't actually gonna do anything," he mumbled, "I love Vanessa."

Caleb sat there, watching the guys go at each other. "I think this meeting is over," he eventually said.

**A:N// Sorry this one took so long you guys!!**


	13. Chapter 13

Reid hopped in the passenger's seat to Tyler's hummer. Normally he would take over and drive himself, but he didn't really feel like it right now. He was too worried about Vanessa to care about something as silly as driving Tyler's car.

Tyler glanced over at Reid and noticed he was rather quiet. "So talk to me man."

"About what?" Reid responded, still looking out the window.

"You never seem to have a problem talking about girls," Tyler said, laughing a bit.

"Yea well, Vanessa's not just any other girl. I wasn't lying back there when I said I love her."

Tyler wasn't sure what to say. He didn't think Reid was lying, yet he wasn't sure it was really true either. What he did know was that Reid was acting differently then ever before. So maybe he actually did love Vanessa.

"What made you fall in love with her?" Tyler asked.

"It's just ... being with her," Reid started, unsure of how to explain it. "I feel like I can tell her what I'm thinking, and she'll listen. Really listen. She makes me laugh; hell she's even made me cry. I want to save her, even if it means endangering myself. Because I can't imagine my life without her in it. She just gets me, and I get her."

Tyler shook his head in understandment. A smirk had almost appeared on his face, but he swiped it away because he knew Reid would only get more upset.

Reid just continued looking out the window. He didn't feel the need to justify his feelings. All he could focus on was seeing Vanessa again to make sure she was okay.

The rest of the car ride was silent. Tyler pulled his Hummer into the student lot and parked it. After turning it off they both got out of the car and started to walk back to the dorms.

Reid called Vanessa the moment he hopped out of the car. "I'm coming in now," he told her, before hanging up the phone and running up the stairs to the dorm.

She heard his phone snap shut before she could respond. She started to put her books away, knowing he would be in her room soon. She also took a quick glance in the mirror, making sure she looked reasonably presentable.

"Hey man, you want me to come with you?" Tyler screamed out to his friend.

"No, I've got it covered," Reid yelled back in response, reaching the door to the building and opening it. He just wanted to spend more time with Vanessa - alone.

Tyler shook his head and laughed. His friend had it _bad_.

Reid easily ran up the three flights of stairs before getting to Vanessa's floor. When he finally got to her dorm he knocked but didn't wait to hear an answer. He walked right in.

She looked at him with her big eyes and he ran over to her, taking her in his arms.

"I'm so glad you're okay," he said before leaning down and kissing her passionately.

"You're acting like you haven't seen me in a month," Vanessa laughed. "Not that I mind or anything ..."

He shrugged. "Well I realized that I had no idea when the prophecy said..." He trailed off. "So I had this thought that it could have been today. I started imagining, well, you know. And I thought about life without you. It hurt, a lot. So I'm just glad to be here with you," he finished, holder her closer.

Vanessa laughed a little. "You don't need to worry about that. I mean, they only have until my 18th birthday."

"What do you mean?" Reid asked, pulling back in confusion.

"Well technically they can kill me anytime before then. But the prophecy says it will be more successful on the night I turn 18."

"What about after then?" he asked, "What changes after your 18th birthday?"

Vanessa sighed. "I can either give up my power, which from what I'm told will hurt like hell, and possibly injure or even kill me from the pain. Or I can leave and continue fighting for them."

"Leave...?" he trailed in confusion. He held her tighter, not wanting her to go.

She shook her head. "I won't leave," she whispered.

"Good," responded, taking her and kissing her again.

"I'm willing to go through whatever I have to in order to stay here."

"Yea, I tend to have the effect on people," Reid said smugly.

Vanessa laughed. "You're too sure of yourself."

"But you know you're different, right?" he added. "Because ... you have an effect on me. Not many people do. Actually, you're the only one," he told her softly.

Vanessa smiled. "And you're the only one that I've ever let get close."

"Well, we're perfect for each other then," Reid said before kissing her again.

"What did the guys say?" Vanessa asked.

"They're my brothers. They're here for me no matter what. Which means that they're now here for you, too." He pulled back a bit too look at her reaction.

Vanessa wasn't sure what to say. Part of her was happy that they agreed to help. But the other half felt guilty. She couldn't stand the thought of anyone besides her dying.

Reid saw guilt come over her eyes. "Listen, I'm here for you because I want to be. Because I love you. Don't feel bad about that. If I don't save you, I'll lose myself too."

Vanessa shook her head no. "If I die you won't throw your life away like that."

"I don't know that I'll be able to stop it. You're the first and only girl I've ever truly cared about. I won't throw my life away. It will just be empty." He wrapped his arms around her. "But we don't have to think about that, because it's not gonna happen."

Vanessa was relieved that he suggested the termination of that subject. If they talked about it anymore she knew she would probably start to cry. Just thinking of the possible outcomes always made her uneasy.

"So what now?" She asked.

"When do you turn 18?" he asked, realizing he didn't know her birthday. It was kinda important, given everything she told him.

"Next month. On the 7th," she mumbled.

"We don't have a lot of time then," he said, resting his head upon hers.

Vanessa shook her head sadly. "Thanks for reminding me," she said sarcastically.

"I mean ... We don't have a lot of time to prepare," he clarified. "After your birthday, we'll have all the time in the world."

Vanessa considered the fact. It was true. "I thought we weren't going to talk about this anymore?" She questioned.

"I'm sorry," Reid apologized. "I'm just worried about you, that's all." He turned his head to look out her window. All he wanted was for her to be okay. For them to be able to enjoy themselves without constantly thinking about someone out to kill her.

Vanessa noticed his concern. She turned his head so he was looking at her. "It's okay," she said looking into his eyes.

"I know." He traced her face slowly with his finger before bringing his lips down to hers.

Vanessa continued to kiss him and place her hand on the back of his neck.

"What do you say we have a bit of fun?" Reid asked mischievously. "After all this shit, we sure deserve it."

Vanessa raised an eyebrow. "What kind of fun?"

"There's a party at the Dells tonight," he told her. "Let's go check it out."

"What's the Dells?" She asked.

"It's this place in the woods; we like to have parties there. You'll like it," he assured her. "It's tons of fun, until the cops show up. We gotta get there before they do!"

Vanessa's stomach lurched at the mention of woods. That was part of the prophecy and she had made certain to never enter them. "Okay," she said uncertainly.

"What's wrong?" he asked, seeing the fear on her face.

Vanessa immediately put on a fake smile. "Nothing." She didn't want to lie to him. "Actually, I'm just uneasy with the idea of going into the woods."

"Don't worry, I'll protect you," he said with a smile.

Vanessa was glad he didn't know the real reason she felt uncomfortable in the woods. And she was glad because she still wanted to go and if he knew then he probably wouldn't let her. "Good," She grinned and kissed him.

"Let me call the boys and see if they've left yet," he said, grabbing his phone from his pocket and dialing his Tyler's number.

Vanessa nodded and waiting for Reid to get off the phone. She realized it would be the first time they had come face to face since he told them about her. She wondered if they would act different.

While Reid was still on the phone Vanessa's own cell phone started to beep. She walked over and noticed she got a text message. It was from Selene._ Be careful_, was all it said.

"Tyler can give us a ride," Reid told her after hanging up the phone. "But we have to leave soon. I'm just gonna go change and I'll be right back down to get you," he said smiling.

She looked up from her phone. "Yeah that sounds good."

Reid ran back to his room and changed into a pair of jeans and threw on his orange sweatshirt. He picked up his black beanie from his desk and stuck it on his head, and slipped on his black fingerless gloves. He was back to Vanessa's room a little less then 10 minutes later.

Vanessa had changed into some low rider jeans and a black, off the shoulder long sleeved shirt. Her hair fell down her back with little waves here and there.

Reid gasped when he saw her. "You look beautiful," he said, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her again. He didn't like being away from her.

Vanessa smiled. "Thanks," she said turning around to face him. "Ready?"

Reid grabbed her hand and they walked downstairs to leave the dorms. Tyler's car waited for them outside, and the boys blasted heavy rock music, clearly getting pumped up for the party.


	14. Chapter 14

"After you," he said, opening the back door for Vanessa. He would let Tyler drive, since all he wanted to do was sit next to his girl.

Vanessa nodded in thanks and climbed in. "I love your car Tyler."

"It's such a pussy-magnet," Pogue joked.

"Where is the magnet? I don't see a magnet!" Reid said, doing his best Borat impression.

"Shut up Reid," Caleb said, smacking his friend on the top of his head.

"Aww lighten up Caleb," Reid said. Caleb leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms.

Vanessa couldn't stop laughing. Still recovering from her giggle fit from Pogue's joke, Vanessa shook her head and looked out the window. Reid slid his arm around her and she snuggled into him.

Caleb looked over at them out of the corner of his eye and smiled. He was glad Reid finally found someone.

"How long does it take to get there?" Vanessa asked.

"10 more minutes," Reid told her, "but I wanna show you something first."

Caleb gave him a warning glare, but he chose to ignore it.

Vanessa smiled up at him, curious as to what he meant by that. "And what might that be?" She asked.

"Just wait," he whispered in her ear, "it's a surprise."

"I think I've had enough surprises for today," she told him while rolling her eyes. But she ended up laughing a little.

"You'll like this one, I promise." He traced his finger along her arm, and felt her shiver in response.

She looked at him, tempted to go into his mind to see what he was planning.

"Don't even think about it," he said, knowing that look in her eyes.

"Fine," she pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

Caleb and Pogue gave each other a questioning look.

"Did I miss something?" Caleb asked.

"No," Vanessa and Reid said quickly, at the same time.

"Right," Pogue rolled his eyes. He was so gonna ask Reid about this later.

A small giggle slipped from Vanessa's mouth. Reid pulled her closer, and it took everything she had to not start laughing even more. She even had to place a hand over her mouth to stop the laughter from escaping. Reid pulled her hand away and kissed her instead.

"Stop it you guys," Caleb groaned from his seat beside them, "get a fucking room."

"Whatever man," Reid said, taking Vanessa's hand and pulling her closer.

They finally arrived at the Dells and everyone poured out of the car.

"We're here," Reid exclaimed.

"No shit," Tyler rolled his eyes. Way to state the obvious.

"Come with me." Reid grabbed Vanessa's hand and led her up the cliff, in the opposite direction the other guys were walking.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Caleb said to Reid. "You really need to stop using so much."

"It's not gonna hurt me...yet," Reid said, turning away from his friends and walking with Vanessa up the cliffs.

"Where are we going?" Vanessa questioned. Reid pulled her towards the cliffs, but his friends were walking through the woods.

"Will you be quiet for once and just go with it?" he asked her softly, continuing to walk upwards.

"No," Vanessa responded.

Reid rolled his eyes and continued to walk to the cliff.

When they finally reached the top, the moonlight shone down brightly upon them, illuminating the view for miles.

"Look over there," Reid said, pointing down to where a group of people were partying. "That's where we're going."

"Why are you showing me up here? We could be there already," Vanessa complained.

"Are you telling me you can't enjoy a nice view?" he asked, looking down on her. She looked even more beautiful with the light of the moon upon her.

She laughed a little. "Pretty much."

"Good thing there's more," he laughed. "I wouldn't have taken you here otherwise."

Vanessa raised an eyebrow. "More?"

He wrapped his arms around her. "Hold on to me," he said, "and promise you won't let go." He had never tried this with someone else before, but trusted himself to keep her safe.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Trust me," he whispered, looking into her eyes. "You do trust me, right?"

She nodded. "Of course I do. But what does that have to do with us standing on the edge of a cliff?"

"You didn't think we were coming up here to just look at the view, did you?" he asked, smiling down at her.

Vanessa raised her eyebrow. She wasn't sure what to say. She was too busy fighting the urge to read his mind.

"You ready?" he asked, looking out over the cliff and then back at her.

It was then that she realized what they were going to do. Reid was going to use his powers to let them jump off the cliff without getting hurt. She looked over the edge. "No better time then the present."

"Let's drop in," he said, jumping off the cliff, holding her tightly in his arms. Vanessa held on tight and felt the wind whipping through her hair.

"This was the surprise I had in mind," he said, brushing the hair out of her face and kissing her while they floated slowly down to the Dells. Vanessa smiled and continued to kiss him, loving the feeling of being so weightless and free. For once, she had nothing to worry about, and all she could focus on was Reid.

They continued kissing all the way down until they reached the area outside the Dells. Once they landed, Reid reached up and readjusted his beanie. "You ready to party?" he asked, turning toward Vanessa. Her hair was windblown; he didn't think he had ever seen her look as beautiful.

Vanessa smiled and shook her head. "All set," She confirmed. They started to walk to where everyone was, hand in hand.

"What'd we miss?" Reid asked, approaching the other boys.

"There's a hot new chick," Tyler said, looking over to a blonde girl hanging out with Kate and Sarah.

"Go get her, baby boy," Reid said, putting his arm around Tyler.

"Get off me, man," Tyler said, pulling away from Reid. "Just cause you got yourself a girl doesn't mean you can get all touchy-feely with the rest of us."

Vanessa glanced over at the girl; she had no interest in her and focused her attention back at the group of people she was around.

"I'm guessing Tyler doesn't get much?" Vanessa laughed.

"He's just a bit shyer then the rest of us," Pogue answered, "but he's the youngest, he's got time."

Pogue waved over to Kate, and the three girls came over to the group. The new girl followed them confidently, her long blonde hair blowing softly in the wind.

"Let's get something to drink," Reid whispered in Vanessa's ear.

Vanessa was glad he wasn't interested in meeting the new girl. She didn't doubt his affections or anything, but it really showed her how much he loved her, and only her.

Vanessa thought for a minute. Getting drunk near the woods was probably not the best thing to do. "I shouldn't," Vanessa said.

"Come on. We came out here to have some fun," Reid persisted.

She turned to face him. "Someone needs to stay sober."

"Whatever," Reid rolled his eyes, not wanting to push her. "I'm gonna get something though."

Vanessa shook her head, rather annoyed by his arrogance. Her cell phone started to ring and she flipped it open.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Where are you?" It was Selene.

Reid went over to the bar, grabbing a beer for himself and a soda for Vanessa. He came back and saw her still on the phone, so he waited for her to finish.

"I'm at a party," Vanessa told her. She knew that if she said exactly where she was, Selene would give her shit for being near the woods. Then again, she probably already knew.

"The Dells?" So, Selene had known where she was.

"Yeah. Why?" Vanessa wasn't sure what the whole point of this conversation was.

"You shouldn't be near the woods," Selene informed her.

Vanessa was getting rather annoyed. "I know I know. But I'm not going to drink or anything so I can stay alert."

Reid stood there impatiently, wanting Vanessa to hang up the phone so they could go back to the group.

Vanessa glanced up and saw a rather annoyed Reid. "Well I have to go." And without waiting for a response Vanessa flipped her cell phone shut.

"I got you a soda," he told her, handing her the drink. Yea, he could be pushy, but he didn't want to piss Vanessa off. He knew from experience that was not a good thing to do.

"Thanks," She said, taking the drink in her hand.

"You ready to go back?" He took her free hand with his, and sipped his beer. He found where the group was standing again, and started heading back in that direction.

"Sure," Vanessa nodded her head.

When they got back, Tyler was intently focused on the new girl. She was very pretty up close, but not quite as stunningly beautiful as Vanessa. Vanessa thought she saw the girl give her a dirty look, but when she focused on her again all she got was a smile in return.

"I'm Amanda," the girl said, holding out her hand. "You must be Vanessa."

Vanessa took her hand, giving her a weird look. It was kinda strange that the girl knew her name. She was about to delve into her mind, but before she could, Amanda continued, "the boys mentioned the two of you should be back soon."

"I'm Reid Garwin," Reid said, smiling at the girl. "But I'm sure you knew that already, too."

Vanessa nudged him in the ribs a bit, and he put his arm around her. "Come on," he whispered, "no one compares to you."

Vanessa smiled at him and then turned her attention back to Amanda. "So, you new?"

"Yep," Amanda confirmed.

"Why the transfer?" Vanessa asked. So maybe she was coming on a bit strong. So what? Vanessa needed to know more about this girl.

"My family moved," she started, "job stuff. We didn't hear great things about the public schools in the area, and Spenser had an opening."

"Are you living with your family, or in the dorms?" Vanessa asked. Tyler looked at her, clearly annoyed with the questions.

"The dorms," Amanda said, starting to look a bit annoyed by all the questions.

"Cool," Vanessa responded.

Before the conversation could continue, students started yelling and running around frantically.

"The cops are coming, I suggest everyone get outta here!" a voice announced through the speakers.

"Let's go!" Reid grabbed Vanessa's hand, clearly enjoying the excitement.

"We have to go through the woods?" Vanessa asked. She didn't want to sound scared, but she felt her voice waver a bit.

"Just for a second," he smiled, "we'll be outta there in a second. And I promise not to let go of your hand."

"Fine, but we're running."

"Deal." He ran with her through the woods until they reached the car. Tyler climbed into the driver's seat, and Reid sat shotgun, pulling Vanessa onto his lap.

They were about to leave when they saw Sarah's car having trouble. Again. However, this time, Amanda was driving. Apparently she was the DD for the night.

"The car won't start!" she screamed out the window.

"I can fix it," Tyler said, jumping out of the car and opening the hood of Sarah's beat up old car.

Reid rolled his eyes. This situation was familiar. Sarah really needed a new car.

Tyler fixed the car and started walking back. Vanessa got a smirk on her face and leaned over to honk the horn. The sound startled Tyler and made him jump. Vanessa started laughing.

Reid scooted over to the driver's seat before Tyler could get back in.

"Get in the back baby boy, I'm driving," he said through the open window. Tyler didn't have a choice - the cops were almost there.

Vanessa, however, was still laughing. She turned around and faced Tyler. "Did I scare you?" she taunted.

"Never." He crossed his arms.

Before they could say anything more, Reid accelerated the Hummer, and they were flying through the woods. Moments later they heard the familiar sound of sirens behind them.

"Shit man," Caleb said, "you should just pull over."

"Do we really have to go through this again?" Reid asked, looking into the rear-view mirror at Caleb.

"Alright boys, you know the drill," Pogue said, rubbing his hands together.

"You're gonna love this," Reid said to Vanessa.

He quickly looked at the other guys. "Alright - this is gonna take all of us."

Vanessa looked ahead. All she could see was the end of the cliffs, and the cops were gaining on them.

"Umm, guys ..." she started, feeling her stomach flip looking into the endless night.

She didn't have time to continue. The next thing she knew, the car was flying over the cliffs.

"Harry Potter can kiss my ass!!!" Reid screamed in excitement.

Vanessa heard the excited screams coming from all the guys. At first she closed her eyes then realized that they were floating. Weird. She opened them and a grin suppressed her face.

Before she knew what was happening, the car landed back on the ground, behind the cops, who were standing outside their car looking over the cliffs. The two officers gave them a strange look, and Reid drove off quickly, escaping them.

"That was... incredible!" Vanessa exclaimed, feeling her adrenaline rushing from the excitement of it all.

"I know," Reid said, taking her hand. "It's even better when using."

The other guys nodded in agreement.

Vanessa nodded and they started to drive back to the dorm. "So, do Sarah and Kate know?" she asked.

"Sarah knows," Caleb piped in, "but Kate doesn't. Yet." He looked over at Pogue. There hadn't really been a reason to tell Kate about their powers.

"Oh," Vanessa said.

"Why?" Caleb asked.

"Just wondering. I think Sarah thinks that I know. But she hasn't said anything because she wasn't 100 percent sure."

"And how do you know this?" Pogue questioned her.

Vanessa bit her lip. The only way to fully explain this was to tell them that she had read Sarah's mind. "It was pretty obvious."

The guys just nodded their heads and decided to drop the subject.

It was silent for a while and Vanessa was getting bored. She held her right hand out in front of her. On her thumb and ring finger were silver rings. Vanessa made a very small force field in her hand and started to play with it.

"What are you doing?" Reid asked.

Vanessa snapped out of it and it disappeared. "What?" She asked.

"That thing that you were making."

"Oh, nothing." Vanessa shrugged.

"Make it again," Reid urged her.

She was caught by a bit of surprise. Reid had never seen her force field except for that one night with the car crash. "Oh-okay," Vanessa mumbled.

She held out her hand again and created the small force field.

"What the hell?" Tyler asked leaning forward.

All of the guys noticed the small glow in Vanessa's hand and focused their attention on it.

"What _is _that?" Caleb asked.

Vanessa rolled her eyes, but made sure no one saw her. "Force field. Obviously."


	15. Chapter 15

"So, that's what you used that night?" Reid asked.

Vanessa almost forgot about that night. The car wreck and how they both used their powers to save one another. "Uh-huh," she confirmed.

"What are you guys talking about?" Caleb asked, clearly confused.

Vanessa and Reid looked at each other. This would be interesting to explain.

"Do you guys remember that night Reid and I came to Nicky's together?" Vanessa asked, taking it upon herself to clarify what they were talking about.

The three guys nodded their heads, waiting for her to continue.

"Well, on our way there we sort of got in an accident," she began, "so I used my powers to protect the car while Reid used his to do … something else," she shrugged, still unsure of what exactly Reid did. The only vivid memory she had of that night was using her powers then asking Reid what had happened.

"Car accident?" Caleb raised his eyebrows.

"Don't sweat it Caleb. We're fine," Reid told him.

Caleb rolled his eyes. "Obviously," he said, turning to look out the window.

"What else can you do?" Tyler asked, leaning forward in his seat.

Vanessa hesitated for a minute. She decided that it wasn't a bad idea to tell them. But she wouldn't say anything about her being able to read minds; not wanting to freak them out too much. She knew _she _wouldn't be comfortable of the idea of someone else reading her private thoughts. Besides, she tried to only do it when she needed information.

"Well besides what I just showed you, I get premonitions and can levitate objects using my mind," she answered, leaning back on her seat.

"So basically the same stuff as us, but you can see the future and create that ... thing?" Caleb asked, making a circular motion with his hands, creating a not-so-successful imitation of her force field.

"Pretty much," Vanessa shrugged her shoulders. It wasn't really anything new to her, but she understood why the guys were interested.

They drove in silence for a while, and Vanessa turned the knob on the radio, looking for a good station. Eventually she settled on the local rock station she found in her car a few days ago. Caleb seemed to be in deep thought, and Tyler clearly wanted to know more, but didn't want to ask in fear of annoying her. At least the boy could take a hint. She wasn't really in the mood to discuss her power at the moment. All it reminded her of was her – and now Reid's – possible death.

Reid finally pulled the Hummer into the parking lot. "That sure was an interesting night," he said, smiling at Vanessa.

"Yea. And that new chick is hot," Tyler said, rubbing his hands together. He clearly felt more comfortable with this change of topic.

"Not in your dreams," Pogue muttered under his breath.

Vanessa laughed and climbed out of the car, as did everyone else. She was glad the focus moved off her.

"Is that a challenge?" she heard Tyler say to Pogue on the opposite side of the car.

"If you want," Pogue rolled his eyes, "but get ready to pay up."

Reid walked up to Vanessa. "They're gonna go on about this for hours. What do you say we head back up to the dorms?"

"Your room or mine?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

Reid smirked. "Yours. Unless you want to spend some quality time with Tyler as well?"

"Mine," she said quickly, grabbing his hand and walking toward the doors.

He smiled and followed her. "So, did you have fun tonight?"

"Hmm let's see. Flying off a cliff, a huge field party, and a major cop chase followed by a flying car ride. That definitely beats anything I've done for a while," she smiled.

"I told you so," he taunted, pulling her closer.

"Well you gotta admit. Jumping off a cliff sounds totally crazy," she paused, thinking about the rest of the night. "What did you think of that new girl?" she asked, walking up the stairs.

"Eh," he shrugged his shoulders, "she's alright. But there's this other girl - not only is she beautiful, but she stands up to me, sees the future, and even protects me," he smiled. "Not that I need protection, but still."

"Right," she rolled her eyes. His hand gave hers a slight squeeze, and she looked up at him and smiled.

Reaching her room, she unlocked her door and led the way inside.

"I'm glad you have fun," he said earnestly, his blue eyes focused on hers.

"Of course I did," she replied, meeting his intense gaze. "I _was_ with you, after all." She placed her hand on his face and kissed him, unable to get enough. His arms wrapped around her waist and she leaned against the wall, feeling his body press against her own.

"I'm gonna get ready for bed," she said after they pulled apart, "don't go anywhere."

He walked over to her bed and laid down. "I wouldn't dream of it," he replied.

Vanessa walked into her bathroom and changed into her PJ's, taking her makeup off and brushing out her hair. She looked into the mirror and saw how radiant her face looked, even though it was completely bare. By the time she finished getting ready, she walked back into her room, only to see Reid passed out on her bed. She guessed the whole flying car thing took a lot out of him. She turned the lights off and sat next to him, taking off his beanie and running her hand through his hair. She saw him smile in his sleep at her touch, and she laid down next to him, his body curving perfectly against her own.

She guessed she was tired too, because when she opened her eyes, she could see the sunlight streaming through the window. She looked over at her clock and when she saw it was 9:15, she sat up suddenly.

"Shit!" she screamed, pushing Reid awake.

"What?" he replied sleepily, rubbing his hands over his eyes. He looked over at her and smiled before closing them again.

"It's 9:15 and first period is half-way over," she told him.

"Whatever," he said, pulling her back down to bed.

"I'm gonna be in so much shit," she said, "we have English, and I don't know if you remember, but our teacher totally hates me after that first day of class."

Reid laughed at the memory. "That was amazing though."

"I know," she smiled, "but I'm not so sure our teacher would agree."

Reid raised his hands up in defeat. "Okay, okay, you win," he laughed.

Vanessa smiled and got up. She grabbed her uniform and walked into her bathroom to get ready. Halfway through changing she realized she left her skirt in the other room. She bit her lip and decided to just walk out of the bathroom with only her underwear and tank-top on. If anything, that would surely get Reid to wake up. She strolled out and saw his eyes widen at the sight of her.

He sat up and crossed his arms over his chest. "You're not just gonna come in here like that and go back in there to change, are you?"

Vanessa turned around to look at him. "You're up, good," she turned back around and continued to look for her skirt. "And yes that's what I plan on doing."

Reid threw the covers off the bed and ran over to where she was standing, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. "Come on," he pleaded, "we're barely gonna make first period. We can just show up at second at no one will know the difference." He buried his head in her neck, coaxing her towards the bed.

Vanessa groaned, signaling that she was about to cave in. "Reid..." she began.

"Stop, you're going to make me give in."

"Good," he replied, running his hand through her hair.

Vanessa sighed and turned around to face him. "You're too good at this."

"I know," he smiled, pressing his lips to hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and continued kissing him, closing her eyes and pulling him closer. He pressed her against the wall, running his hand up her small tank top. He leaned his forehead against hers, wanting to take in everything about her.

"Reid," she whispered. "We really have to get ready."

"Fine," he responded, knowing that he would get detention if he missed second period. And that would mean less time with Vanessa. Reid kissed her goodbye and headed grudgingly back to his dorm.

Vanessa walked over to where she was searching for her skirt and snatched it up. She walked into the bathroom, closed the door and changed as quickly as she could. When she walked out of the bathroom dressed in the ugly school uniform, she debated on how to do her hair.

After looking at the clock and realizing she was running out of time, she turned her straightener on and ran in through her hair really fast. Her hair looked shiny and smooth. Chi straighteners really were the best.

She grabbed the necessary books and stuffed them in her backpack, running to her next class, which was biology. So boring. There was a lab today, and she knew she would get last pick of lab partners because she was running late. The last thing she wanted was to be placed with Danny Jenkins. She swore the boy never stopped blowing his nose. She always felt contaminated when she had to sit near him. She ran into class just as the bell rang.

"Vanessa. So nice of you to join us," the teacher said.

"I'm not late," she informed him.

"Yes, but since we're doing a lab it would be appreciated if you could get here a little early."

"Right, whatever," she rolled her eyes. At least she wouldn't get detention, and that was really all that mattered.

"We have a new student with us today - Amanda Waldman. You can be lab partners with her. She comes from an accelerated program, so maybe she'll help you out a bit."

Vanessa recognized the girl from the party last night. She didn't know why, but she didn't like her. Not surprising, seeing as she didn't like most girls. She grudgingly sat down next to her and took out her books.

"Hey Vanessa," Amanda greeted her.

"Hey," Vanessa replied, not really paying the girl much attention

"So that was some party last night." Clearly this girl didn't know that Vanessa wasn't one for small talk.

"Mhmm," Vanessa said, opening up her notebook to look at the lab instructions. It did look much harder then the others, but then again, she never was one for biology. It bored her. Kind of like Amanda.

"So, I guess we should get started then," Amanda suggested. Apparently she had gotten the hint that Vanessa didn't want to talk to her.

"Probably," Vanessa rolled her eyes, "it looks pretty hard."

"I did this at my old school, it's actually really easy," Amanda smiled.

Vanessa guessed that was supposed to be reassuring. It really wasn't. It just made her seem like a know-it-all bitch.

"Great. Then I'm guessing since you're so brilliant, you won't need my help at all," Vanessa scoffed. After she said it, she felt bad for being so mean.

"Well, I might need help holding the microscope," Amanda retaliated. She turned to face Vanessa, her eyes cold as ice. "Unless, of course, you want me to write in my lab report that you wouldn't help me at all. That isn't a very nice welcome to the new girl, now is it?"

Vanessa looked up at Amanda. She was a bit shocked at the remark that had just left her mouth. "Excuse me?" she raised an eyebrow.

Before Amanda could respond, the teacher walked over to see how everything was going.

"Everything's great," she replied, "Vanessa is so helpful."

Once the teacher left, Vanessa turned back to Amanda. "What's your deal?" She asked.

"Nothing. You just made it perfectly clear you weren't going to help. But it's no biggie," she said, waving her hand in the air. "Anyway, what's the deal with that Tyler guy?" she asked, turning her attention to the microscope in front of her.

"What about him?" Vanessa asked.

"Oh, nothing," Amanda smiled and wrote something down in her lab notebook. "He just seemed pretty cute, that's all."

Vanessa shrugged. "I guess so. I don't really know him that well."

"But you've talked with him, right?" Amanda asked.

Vanessa nodded her head. "Yeah, what does that have to do with anything?"

"He's just cute, that's all," she smiled.

Vanessa shrugged. "Let's just do this lab."

"Whatever," Amanda said. She rolled her eyes and went back to her lab notebook.

The girls quickly finished the lab with 15 minutes left of class to spare. Vanessa sat back in her seat and started tapping her pen against the table. She knew it was annoying, but she needed to do something with her hands. Just sitting there was boring.

"Can you stop that?" Amanda asked, "it's really annoying."

She started tapping faster.

Amanda reached over, snatched the pen from Vanessa's grasp, and threw it in the trash.

"What was that for?" Vanessa protested.

"That was seriously irritating," Amanda said, starting to doodle on her notebook.

Vanessa glared at her. She was seriously thinking about messing with this girl's head. Literally. But before she could do anything the teacher walked over.

"All finished?" he asked, coming up to their lab table.

"Yep," Amanda smiled sweetly.

Vanessa rolled her eyes. The girl was so fake it made her sick.

"Well, since you girls finished so quickly, you may leave," he told them.

Vanessa gathered up her worksheet and handed it to the teacher. She was out of there so fast, just needing to get away from the new girl. She didn't get what her deal was. She never did anything to her. She headed towards the door, and saw Tyler waiting outside the classroom.

"Hey Tyler," she smiled, "what are you doing here?" She knew he didn't have class this period. Normally he was busy completing his homework for his next class.

Then she heard Amanda's annoying voice. "Hey Tyler!" she said in that sugary sweet way of hers.

Vanessa raised her eyebrows at Tyler, who only smiled in response before turning his attention to Amanda.

"Hey Amanda," Tyler greeted her, "you guys get out early?"

Vanessa turned around on her heel, unable to take it.

"See ya around," she mumbled to Tyler. He didn't respond.

She glanced behind her to see Amanda walking away with him in the opposite direction. It didn't make sense why this new girl was so nice to Sarah, Kate, and Tyler, yet treated her like some kind of monster. While she didn't want to be friends with her or anything, but there was no need to act like a complete bitch, either. She didn't remember doing anything to offend her, and decided to ask Sarah about it later. A large pair of hands covering her eyes soon interrupted her thoughts.

"Umm...who is this?" she asked. More then likely it was Reid, but you could never be too sure.

"Who do you think?" said a voice that was most definitely Reid. She turned around to look into his familiar ice blue eyes.

"You'll never guess what just happened," she said, wondering how he would react to the whole Amanda fiasco.

"What?" he asked.

"You know that new chick... Amanda?"

Reid thought for a second. "Oh yea, she was hanging out with Sarah and Kate at the Dells."

"Well we had to be lab partners today and she was being a total bitch to me for absolutely no reason," Vanessa informed him.

"She's probably just jealous," he said, smiling and putting his arm around her shoulder, "I mean, can you really blame her?"

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "But even if that was it - which I'm not sure it was - she was so mean to me. It didn't make any sense."

Reid thought about this for a minute. "I'm don't know. But why does it matter anyway? You didn't seem to like her that much anyways," he pointed out.

Vanessa thought about that for a second. He made a good point. "It's one thing not liking someone, but another thing to be a total bitch."

"She just sounds like a drama queen," he shrugged his shoulders. "Girls can be like that."

Vanessa smacked him on the head. "Not _all _girls!"

"Well obviously not _you_," he said, reaching up to fix his hair.

"Riight," she rolled her eyes. "But seriously, you shoulda seen her. She was like, crazy or something. "And," she added, "she walked of with Tyler right after class."

"He needs someone to whip his ass," Reid joked.

"Is that all you guys care about?" Vanessa shook her head.

"Not _all_ we care about," he said, turning to look into her eyes. "It matters on the girl. Amanda ... isn't the type of girl to take seriously. But you ..." he trailed. "You're different. But you know that."

Even though she was still irritated by the way Amanda acted in class, she couldn't help but smile. Reid really knew how to make her feel better.

"Hopefully Sarah and Kate will realize what a bitch she is and stop hanging out with her," she said, shaking her head. "I don't think I could hang out with them if she's around them."

Reid laughed and shook his head. "I still don't see why this bothers you so much."

"You had to see it," she told him. "But whatever. I'll get over it."

He took her hand and squeezed it slightly, still looking into her eyes. "I'll see ya after school, alright?"

"Yea, okay," she answered, "hopefully I won't have any more classes with the super-bitch."

Reid just rolled his eyes before walking off to class. She hoped she wasn't being too dramatic.

**A:N// Keelie here. Thank you guys so much for all the reviews. We love them! Next chapter should be up soon )**


	16. Chapter 16

The rest of the day was rather uneventful, full of the same old boring repetitive classes. Luckily, Amanda wasn't in anything else with her. She wasn't sure if she would be able to take that. It was enough that she was going to have to face science with her every day. Anything more would be completely unbearable.

Vanessa packed up her books after last period, glad that the day was finally over. She said bye to a few people in class she sort of knew, before swinging her bag around her back and heading out the door. While walking back, she ran through her assignments in her head. She had an English paper due in three days, and was procrastinating like crazy. After all, it was three days away. That meant two more days before she had to start thinking about it.

She breathed a sigh of relief upon entering her dorm room, glad to be by herself for a bit. She took off her itchy uniform and changed into jeans and a t-shirt, yanking out her messy bun and running her fingers through her hair. She felt much more relaxed now, and decided she might as well start on some homework. Plopping down on her bed, she opened up the book she was writing her paper on – _Utopia _by Thomas More. Definitely not the most interesting thing she'd ever read. Her eyes began to scan the pages, and it wasn't long before she felt her eyelids slowly closing. If she was going to get anything accomplished, she was definitely going to need to get some coffee. Quick.

Pushing her books to the side, the gathered up her bags and decided to head down to the café on campus. She obviously needed some caffeine if she was gonna be able to stay awake. While walking down the hallway, she started to think about Amanda again, and wondered once more why she had been such a bitch earlier. She knew she hadn't been particularly friendly, but still, Amanda's reaction was completely uncalled for.

Opening the doors to the café, she looked around to see if anyone she knew was there. Most of the time, she could find some people she knew from classes. Once inside, she spotted Sarah and Kate sitting on some couches on the corner. She gave them a little wave, and figured they didn't see her when they didn't return it. She shrugged her shoulders and went to the counter to order her coffee. While waiting for her latte, she eyed a chocolate cheese muffin sitting behind the glass counter. She knew they were positively awful for you, but her day had been completely awful so far, and she figured if there was any day to splurge, it would be today. Putting aside all thoughts of calories and sugar, she told the cashier to add the muffin to her order. After she was all set and had everything, she walked over and sat down next to Kate and Sarah.

"Hey you guys," Vanessa greeted them, placing her latte and muffin on top of the low table in front of her.

"Hey," Kate said, glancing at her quickly before carefully examining her croissant.

Sarah just gave her a small smile and looked away.

"So, how were your days?" she asked, trying to make conversation. She figured they had long days, just like her. It was rainy and yucky outside, which typically made her feel drowsy. She supposed they got the same way, because they seemed kind of distracted.

"Fine," Kate said curtly, before turning to face Sarah. "Are you almost ready to go?" she asked her.

Vanessa picked up her latte and took a sip of it, watching her friends interact. For some unknown reason, the two girls didn't want to sit with her, and were being very obvious about it. She didn't recall doing anything recently to offend them, and was genuinely confused.

She placed her latte on the table. "What's going on?" she asked, looking from one girl to the other.

Sarah put her drink down and looked at her. "We talked to Amanda today," she said simply, as if that should explain everything.

Vanessa rolled her eyes. _Great_, she thought. She couldn't even imagine what awful things Amanda said about her.

"And?" she prompted, realizing Sarah didn't plan to continue.

'Well, she told us what happened in Bio..." she trailed, avoiding her gaze. Clearly, she wanted Vanessa to add something to this, or at least understand what she meant.

No way would Vanessa fall for it. "About how she was a complete bitch to me for absolutely no good reason?" she asked in aggravation, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Well," Kate started, clearly annoyed, "she told us something a _little_ different."

"She _is_ new," Sarah emphasized, obviously feeling a bit bad that this all happened. "I just don't understand why you would be so mean to her."

"Me? Mean to her?" Vanessa asked in astonishment.

"Don't act so surprised," Kate replied coldly.

"I have to do some homework," Sarah said, gathering up her stuff, "I'll see ya around."

"I'm coming with you," Kate said, barely giving Vanessa a second glance as she followed Sarah out of the cafe.

Vanessa watched them leave, downing her coffee before sitting back in the couch and crossing her arms. She couldn't believe Amanda would go this far. Turning her friends against her. She was acting like a complete baby. Then again, why should she care? She got along fine without friends before. But she realized that she was actually starting to like Kate and Sarah, and enjoyed spending time with them. And maybe she did care what they thought. Especially since what they believed about her was completely wrong.

She didn't know what to do, so she picked up her cell phone and called Reid. She waited while it rang, and it eventually went to voicemail. Hanging up the phone, she took a look at her watch. 4:30. Reid should be getting out of swim practice soon. She zipped up her Northface jacket before heading outside to go to the gym where the pool was. It was pouring now. She hated the rain, but she needed to see Reid.

Opening the door to the gym, she immediately heard the sound of swim practice, and the smell of chlorine filled her nose. Looking around, she noticed Reid right away, along with his friends. She walked over to the bleachers and sat down, waiting patiently for swim practice to finish. Shortly after she sat down, Tyler tapped Reid on the shoulder and pointed to her on the bleachers. Reid smiled at her and gave her a little wave, flipping some wet blonde hair out of his eyes. He looked amazing, and he knew it.

The coach blew his whistle to signify the beginning of a race, and Reid immediately turned around, diving in and pushing his way through the water. She watched his even strokes, thinking about everything that happened that day. Watching the rhythmic motion of the guys swimming was actually quite calming, and before she knew it, Reid was getting out of the pool and drying off. She saw him say something to the guys and then he started heading over to her. She sat up a bit and smiled, waiting for him to sit next to her.

"What's up?" he asked, shaking some water out of his hair.

"Amanda," Vanessa spat. She was pissed and upset, and didn't feel the need to hide it from him.

"What did she do _this_ time?" he asked, leaning back on the bleachers, giving Vanessa a nice view of his perfectly toned body.

Vanessa shook her head. "She turned Kate and Sarah against me."

"Back up," Reid told her, looking slightly amused. "How exactly did she do that?"

Vanessa rolled her eyes at him not taking this seriously. "Instead of her acting like the mega bitch, she told them I was."

"And they believed her over you?" he asked, trying to get the story right. Girls could be so confusing.

"Apparently. And I mean, why not? It's not like I've opened up to either of them like Amanda most likely did."

"They're really nice girls...you should just try to talk to them," he suggested. He didn't really know what to tell her. He never was very good with all the drama girls caused. He normally just asked the other person their side of the story if there was any confusion, but apparently, girls didn't do that.

Vanessa looked at him. "What am I supposed to do? Just tell them everything? I can't just be like 'Hey my life's fucked up so be nice.'"

Reid rolled his eyes. "No ... but you _could_ tell them what happened in class."

"Don't you think I've tried?" she asked in frustration.

"Don't worry about it. They'll get over it in a few days." He put an arm around her shoulders, getting her shirt a bit wet. "And don't worry, I believe you."

Vanessa gave a weak smile. "Great. But I don't need people to believe me," she paused for a minute. "Well I do need that. But I also need advice on what to do now."

"Just wait it out," he suggested, pulling her closer to him. "If they're still acting like that in a couple of days, I can ask Caleb if Sarah mentioned anything to him."

Vanessa shrugged. "I guess you're right."

"I'm gonna shower and change. I'll meet you back in your room in a bit, alright?" he asked, placing his hand on her cheek before kissing her softly. "I don't like seeing you hurt."

She smiled. "Alright, I'll see you then," she nodded and turned to walk out of the gym.

Vanessa got back to her room quickly. On her way there she hesitated outside of Sarah and Kate's room, wanting so badly to just talk to them. But at the same time, she knew pushing them would only make things worse. So she shoved open her door and shut it behind her, leaning against it and slowly sliding down the back until she reached the floor. She ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. How come the moment she opened up to someone and tried to have friends everything came crashing down? She tried over and over again to wipe the thoughts from her head, but every time she did they just came pouring back in.

She stood up and walked into her bathroom, placing her hands on opposite sides of the sink and leaning forward a little. She gazed at the reflection of herself in the mirror. Deep circles lined the bottom of her eyes, showing the rest of the world the stress she felt internally. Before she could apply concealer, she heard the faint sound of someone knocking. She knew it was Reid and walked over to the door, opening it to be greeted with his intense blue eyes and familiar smile.

"Hey Reid," she greeted him, smiling and motioning him to come in. After spending some moments by herself, she realized she actually felt better about the whole situation. She never really got close to anyone before, so she never had to put up with drama. But she'd seen it before, and friends always made up.

"I just ran into Sarah and Kate in the hall," he responded, pulling the chair out from under her desk and sitting on it backward.

"And..." Vanessa prompted, wondering what happened. She sat down on her bed, leaning against the wall to face him.

Reid looked down at the ground and then back at Vanessa. He played with his hands a bit, something she'd never seen him do before. "They seemed a bit pissed," he grimaced.

Vanessa banged her head on the wall in frustration. "I didn't even do anything!" she insisted.

"Then Amanda came and they followed her to her room," he continued, "man, that girl has them totally whipped. Impressive."

Vanessa took a deep breath and remembered what she told herself before. "They'll get over it," she told him. "Soon enough, they'll have to realize what she's up to."

"That's the spirit," he smiled. She watched him brush some hair out of his eyes and smiled back at him. She was so happy he believed her. Maybe Sarah and Kate weren't such great friends after all.

Looking over at the books open on her desk, Vanessa was reminded of the fact that she had homework to complete. However, she doubted she could focus at the moment. Although she was trying to brush it off, the whole Amanda thing was still bugging her. Hopefully in a few days everything would be okay, and she could worry about schoolwork then.

"What do you say we do something fun?" she proposed, knowing that spending time with him would surely get her mind off the girls.

Reid walked over to her bed and sat next to her. "What did you have in mind?" he asked, pushing some hair off her face and kissing her neck softly.

Vanessa closed her eyes and leaned into him, hearing herself give a soft moan at his touch. She wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him closer and eventually bringing her lips to his. He pressed his weight against her, pushing her backwards on the bed. She deepened the kiss, and felt his hands running through her hair.

"Well, I was thinking…" she said, in between kisses.

"Shhh," Reid whispered, quieting her by kissing her again.

She ran her hands up under his shirt, feeling the heat of his skin on her fingers. He pressed his body harder against hers, and she knew if they kept going, she wouldn't be able to stop. She felt his hands crawling up her back, and he began slowly undoing her bra. She pulled back from him slightly, his blue eyes so close to hers.

"I think ... we should go out or something. Like, to Nicky's," she said breathlessly. She could see the disappointment in his eyes but it soon softened to understanding.

He rolled over so he was laying next to her. "Whatever you want," he said, looking over at her and smiling.

She looked into his eyes. "I just... I know that if we stay here, we won't be able to stop. And I don't want anything to happen too soon," she explained.

He positioned himself so he was on his side, looking straight at her. "It's fine," he said, pushing a strand of hair off her forehead. "We have all the time in the world."

"Maybe," she replied, leaning her head back on her pillow to look up at the white plaster ceiling. The last thing she wanted to think about right now was that her 18th birthday was slowly approaching.

"Not maybe," he corrected her, "nothing is going to happen."

"Can we just worry about now, instead of the future?" she pleaded, turning to face him again.

"Alright, that's cool," he said, circling her palm with his thumb. "We can head out whenever you want."

Vanessa looked at her watch. 7:30. A bit early for the normal crowd, so she probably wouldn't run into anyone she wasn't in the mood to see.

"How about now?" she asked, sitting up slightly in her bed.

He nodded. "Sounds good."

Vanessa sat up and got off her bed, throwing a black Juicy Couture hoody on overtop her tank top. She ran a brush through her hair and grabbed her bag.

"Come on," she said, leading the way out of the room. She peeked into the hallway first, making sure the terrible trio wasn't hanging out in the hallway. Not like that was a typical spot to hang out, but she really wasn't in the mood to run into them.

Reid walked up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Everything alright?" he asked, looking down the hallway to see what she was staring at.

"Fine," she replied, turning her head to smile up at him.

He raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing her, but he decided to shrug it off. He knew girls could act weird when they got in fights. He put his arms around her shoulders and they walked to the Hummer. Since it was so early, Tyler hadn't gotten to it yet. He used his powers to unlock the doors and start the car. Vanessa jumped in the passenger seat, still amazed by what he could do with his powers. It could really come in handy if he needed to do grand theft auto, or something.

She looked out the window as he drove, taking in the sight of the sun setting and the trees lining the road. She found herself lost in thought, replaying the scene between her, Kate, and Sarah in her mind. She kept trying to find some clue that they weren't as upset as they seemed, but wasn't coming up with anything. She didn't realize they arrived at Nikky's until she felt Reid's hand brush against her own.

"You sure you're alright?" he asked, his eyes full of concern.

"I will be once we get inside," she responded. "I'm totally starving."

She wasn't convincing him of anything, but he decided just to go with it, figuring she would be fine in the morning.


	17. Chapter 17

**A:N// A thousand apologies to everybody. Michelle was off in China and I've been wicked busy with my basketball season…still. I do double sessions so it's going to be extremely difficult to write. Sorry for the incredibly long wait!!!**

Vanessa and Reid walked inside to find a lot of people and a lot of noise. The crowd was busy dancing and playing pool, while others sat at the provided tables and chatted with one another.

"What do you want to eat?" Reid asked her while resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Why don't I get the food and you can find Tyler or something?" Vanessa suggested. She would do pretty much anything to avoid running in with Amanda, who probably had Kate and Sarah attached at her hip. It was weird how Vanessa would do all these crazy things, but when it came to fighting with friends, she was helpless.

Reid sighed and nodded his head. He wondered off to find Tyler kicking Aaron's ass in pool. Like usual.

Vanessa walked over to the counter where Nicky was handing out orders left and right. She waited until he seemed to have settled down before placing her order of a cheeseburger and some friends. She ordered a drink while she was at it and leaned against the counter top and waited.

She could feel eyes burning into her back and she yearned to look back so see whose they were, but fought the urge anyway. She debated over and over in her head whether it was Amanda and the girls or just some guy checking her out. Despite her not really wanting to go out tonight, she knew she looked hot and was thankful for her natural beauty. If she had been anybody else, it would not have been attractive.

Finally, she gave in to that sensational urge and casually peered over her shoulder. The moment she did, she wished she hadn't. Hey eyes met the ones of Amanda, Kate and Sarah. She watched as Amanda whispered something to the two other girls as they nodded in agreement to whatever she said. Vanessa rolled her eyes and turned her head back to the counter.

Across the way she could see Reid playing pool with Tyler. The famous duo was playing Aaron and the boys and probably schooling them. Vanessa wondered how Tyler got here since Reid and her rode in his hummer. She came to the conclusion that he hitched a ride over with Caleb or Pogue.

Reid looked up and noticed Vanessa looking at him. He smiled and she smiled back.

Vanessa started to think about what she had been through with him over the past few months. It had been…eventful.

A plate being set on the counter in front of her jarred her out of her own thoughts and she looked up to see Nicky. She smiled at him and handed him a ten dollar bill before taking the plate and walking over to Reid and his friends. She would so rather put up with a cocky Aaron than a bitchy Amanda.

"How's the game coming along?" She asked Reid before taking a long sip of her sprite. She felt the bubbles tingle in her mouth and she let them settle down before letting them slide down her throat.

"How do you think?" Tyler asked with a quirked eyebrow and a smirk on her face.

She still didn't know why Tyler believed Amanda over herself. She had always been nice to Tyler and thought that he trusted her. Apparently not.

Vanessa gave a fake little smile to him and looked back at Reid who was too caught up in the game. This made Vanessa a little annoyed, but at the same time she was relieved. Reid spent practically all of his time with Vanessa and none with Tyler, despite the two being room-mates. The fact that he was too busy paying attention to kicking Aaron's ass rather then him being too worried about Vanessa made her happy that he wasn't so caught up in her life, and more his own. It was weird, she knew, but as long as he was happy.

"What's that look for?" Reid asked with his eyes still looking at the pool table.

She couldn't help but smirk a little. "What are you talking about?"

"That look," he repeated himself.

"You're not even looking at me," she informed him.

They both laughed a little before Aaron threw his stick on the table in defeat. Reid and Tyler collected their money before he walked away, pretending that he still held his pride in tacked.

While Reid was counting their money, Amanda walked over to Tyler and rested her head on his shoulder. "You did a good job, Tyler."

Vanessa rolled her eyes.

Amanda narrowed her eyes at Vanessa before putting that fake smile upon her face. "What's the matter, Vanessa?"

Vanessa smirked. "Sorry, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit."

And she's back! Vanessa didn't know where her newly found bravery and cunning remarks came from but she was glad to have them back.

Amanda's mouth dropped open and Tyler looked at Vanessa, stunned.

Reid fought back a laugh but couldn't contain it much longer so he let it escape. Tyler shot a glare at his friend.

"What?! That was funny," he defended.

Before anyone could say anything else, Sarah and Kate walked up behind Amanda.

"See Vanessa? You don't have to be so mean to her," Kate pointed out.

Vanessa fought the sudden urge to roll her eyes but she didn't want to make things between them any worse. Instead all she did was shrug. She figured that she better not say anything because, she didn't really know what would come out of her mouth the minute she opened it.

"At least she's not in denial anymore," Sarah whispered to Kate.

"Oh no. I still think you guys have it all wrong and that Amanda is the real bitch. But I just figured that I would wait a while so Amanda could digest."

Kate and Sarah looked at one another. Vanessa was making no sense.

"Because she's full of shit," Vanessa said with that forgotten coyness in her voice.

Once again she put everyone in shock and nobody knew what to say. Reid was still holding back laughter, Tyler was still shooting Reid glares and Amanda still wasn't talking. Kate and Sarah both looked at Amanda, unsure of what she would say, if she said anything.

Finally, Amanda straightened her posture a little and looked Vanessa straight in the eye. "Come on girls, let's go."

The two looked at her, stunned.

"But aren't you going to say anything?" Kate asked.

Amanda was still staring Vanessa in the eye. "Not now. She has it coming."

That last line left Vanessa unsure and not all that stable. A million questions started to shoot through her mind. Was that a real threat or just a silly girl fight threat? She didn't know, but decided it was time to find out.

Amanda turned her back and started to walk away while the two girls started to follow her.

Vanessa narrowed her eyes and concentrated all of her strength at Amanda. She sent her mind out of her and tried to crawl into her thoughts. Once inside, Vanessa tried to get past the thin barrier that everybody had, but there was a problem. Amanda's was thicker than most people's. Without warning a bigger wall slammed down on Vanessa's mind and sent her stumbling back a couple steps. Reid steadied her and his lips moved but Vanessa didn't listen. She just kept looking at Amanda.

Amanda turned around and a sly grin crept across her face. "What's the matter Vanessa?"

Before Vanessa could answer Amanda turned back around and walked out of the door with her two friends in tow.

"Vanessa?" came the sound of Reid's voice.

She shook her head and looked at him.

His eyes were filled with the same concern that filled him earlier and Vanessa sighed.

Once she realized that he was waiting for a response she let her worry fill her own eyes as she looked into his icy blue ones.

"I couldn't…" she stumbled for the words.

"You couldn't what?" Reid urged her to finish the sentence.

"I couldn't read her mind," she whispered so only he could hear.

**A:N// Was it worth the wait? Okay so you know a little more about Amanda. I'm not quite sure when I'll be able to update. Maybe if I receive at least five reviews? That would be loved!!!**


	18. Chapter 18

**A:N// Okay so here's the deal. I just got surgery on my toe so im constantly tired. Ha-ha even though that doesn't have anything to do with it. But so I'm going to try to post an update at LEAST once a week. Sorry guys, im just so busy!!**

Reid looked at her with confusion. "What do you mean?"

Vanessa stumbled for the words. She was still in shock from not being able to read Amanda's mind. She knew that something was up with that Amanda chick! Finally she was getting some answers, or, not getting some answers. "I mean, I couldn't read her mind like I can with everyone else," she re-stated.

He just stood there, unsure of what to say and unsure of how this was possible. Vanessa was supposed to be able to read everyone's minds, right? What it was about Amanda that Vanessa couldn't read must have been something. "Well what happened?" He asked.

"I just got so pissed off at her that I wanted to mess with her mind. So I went inside but I was blocked. It's like, she sensed that I was in there and totally blocked me off. Only Selene can do that and it took her a while to learn how. Not to mention regular people can't do it," Vanessa explained through only a couple breaths.

Vanessa needed to talk to Selene, and fast. The only possible solutions that were coming to mind were the horrible ones. Either Amanda was part of the force that wanted her dead, or she was something that was sure as hell going to try and kill her. Either way, dying was in the scenario.

She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Selene's number my memory. She made her way out of the bar and into the back parking lot where silence would soon consume her and her untamed thoughts. It kept ringing and ringing. Usually, Selene picked up on the first two or three rings.

"Come on," Vanessa begged as she feared the sudden approach of a voice-mail.

"Hello?" Came a voice on the other end.

Vanessa let out a breath of relief as the familiar voice filled her ears. "Selene, it's me."

"Well I know it's you," Selene laughed. "Listen, I'm glad you called. It's getting closer to your birthday and the prophecy so they are going to be trying harder to stop you so I want you to keep a good eye out for anything suspicious. Alright?" She warned.

This was a bit of good news and bad news. The good news was that Vanessa finally knew what Amanda was up to. The bad news was that Vanessa knew what Amanda was up to. Killing her and doing anything to make that happen.

"They've already sent someone. Someone who is my age and she's already turning my friends against me," Vanessa informed Selene. But the moment she said it, she regretted it. She knew that Selene would give her the speech that she had told Vanessa over and over again. The one about not getting attached and the one about always being ready to be on the run again.

She heard Selene sigh on the other end of the phone. "I should have known better. You're getting vulnerable and they're going to use that against you."

Vanessa leaned against the back wall and slid down so she was crouching. She brought her hand to her forehead and rubbed her scalp with one hand. "Shit," she mumbled. "Does this mean they'll use Reid against me too?"

"I'm not sure. It would probably be harder for them to do since he is a Son of Ipswich. But there's no doubt in my mind that they won't try," she confessed.

This was seriously depressing Vanessa. She felt someone standing in front of her and she looked up. Reid was standing there with a concerned look on his face. She gave him a small smile. She wasn't going to try and hide her feelings. She was upset and he would probably figure it out sooner or later.

"But," Selene continued "I do know that you would be better off if you tried talking to the rest of the Sons so they know what to expect."

"Yeah but Amanda has already 'wooed' Tyler so he's pretty pissed off at me for hating Amanda," Vanessa explained.

Silence filled the other end of the phone. "Right. Well I don't really know what to tell you. Just talk to them and maybe he'll figure out what Amanda really is. If Tyler is as good as you say he is, then he'll believe you and walk away from Amanda." This was the only advice that Selene could offer. Sure, she could give advice on fights and skills. But when it came to high school drama, she was like a freshman on her first day.

Vanessa sighed and nodded her head. "Okay, I guess I'll just have to try."

And on that note the two girls said their good-byes and Vanessa clicked the end button on her cell-phone. She brought it to her lips and rested it there. She was thinking about what to do and how to approach the following tasks that were set for her.

"Who was that?" Reid asked. Vanessa had forgotten that he was there so the voice frightened her a little bit.

"Selene. She said that Amanda was a force sent by the people who want me dead," Vanessa explained. Her eyes were locked on an empty space in front of her.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

Vanessa looked up at him with annoyance in her eyes. "Of course I'm sure. That's the only way I wouldn't be able to read her mind." She stood up and tucked her cell-phone back inside her jean pocket. "Listen, Selene told me to tell you guys that you should watch out. They might try to turn you against me."

Reid nodded his head. "You don't have to worry about me. There's no way they could turn me against you," he grinned and he walked towards Vanessa. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

Her eyes closed and she relaxed for the first time all day. She felt like nothing could hurt her when she was close to Reid. She felt like there was nothing that was trying to kill her and she felt like a normal girl when she was with him. She let out a large breath and tried to relax even more.

But Reid pulled away from her and gripped her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Don't worry. I'll talk to the guys. They'll listen to me. And Tyler, well, let's just say I'll kill baby boy if he goes anywhere near Amanda again," Reid said with a grin on his face.

Vanessa forced a smile and nodded her head. "Okay. But I'm kind of tired so I think I'm going to head back to the dorms. Okay?" She told him.

"Sure, I'll take you." Reid offered his hand and Vanessa took it. The two walked back through Nicky's and out into the parking lot.

There were very few lights on in the parking lot, but just enough to see Vanessa's car. Somehow Reid had managed to get a hold of Vanessa's keys and he pulled them out to unlock it. A beeping noise filled the air as it signaled that her car was now unlocked. They climbed in the car and Reid began to drive back to the dorms.

The car ride was silent. Vanessa was staring out the window, thinking about what to do and how everything was going to happen. She thought about how stupid she could be for risking Reid's life, and the others. But part of her didn't regret it. Part of he was glad that she had taken the time to become close with everyone. Especially Reid. Reid had made her learn so much about herself, and about love.

While Vanessa was busy thinking off in her own little world, so was Reid. He was thinking about what was going to happen to Vanessa and how he could stop this entire thing. Let's face it, Reid thought he was invincible. But the truth was, he really had no idea what was going to happen the next couple of weeks. He was even thinking about what he was going to say to the guys. He thought about starting off with telling them the story of the prophecy again and ending with what Amanda really was, and about how they have to watch their backs. That was an important one. Reid looked over at Vanessa, who was staring out the window, and he smiled. She was the first girl that he had let come close to him and he was glad. Now he knew what Caleb and Sarah had, same thing with Pogue and Kate. He knew why they loved it so much. It was nice to have someone to talk to and someone to be with. And someone who you thought about when you should have been doing homework.

When they finally pulled into the parking lot of Spencer's Academy, Reid parked Vanessa's car and turned the engine off. He sat there for a moment and looked over at Vanessa. "Are you alright?" He asked.

She looked over at him and smiled. "Yeah, I was just thinking about how to handle Amanda." This was true, she had been thinking of some serious kick ass moves to throw at her. She would probably do more damage than necessary, but the bitch deserved it.

He rested her hand on hers. "Don't' worry about it. We'll get you through this."

She smiled in thanks and got out of the car, as did Reid. He walked over to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder and she placed hers around his waist.

They walked into the dorms, not really saying much. They climbed the stairs and got to Vanessa's dorm. She turned to face him.

"So are you going to stay with Tyler tonight? You know, to talk to him about Amanda," Vanessa asked as she leaned against her door, her hands fidgeting with her keys.

Reid nodded his head, despite the fact that he wanted to stay with Vanessa tonight. But he knew that talking to Tyler was more important. "Yeah, I'll get right on it." He smiled and she smiled back.

"Well, good-night," Reid said and he leaned in to give her a kiss good-night.

Vanessa kissed him back and reluctantly, she broke away.

She unlocked her door and walked inside her room. She looked around at her room. Clothes were lying on the ground and her bathroom light was still on from this morning. She sighed and walked into it. She slid off her jacket and tossed it on her bed. She washed her face and walked back out into the bedroom part of her room.

Vanessa looked around and sighed. She picked up a pair of PINK sweatpants and a light pink tank-top. She slid the tank-top over her perfectly toned body and put her sweatpants on. She climbed into bed and stared at the ceiling. Millions of thoughts started to race through her head when all she wanted to do was sleep.

She reached over to her night-stand and grabbed her iPod. She scrolled through the songs until she found one of her favorites by Skillet. She started humming the music until she was mumbling it out loud.

'_In the dark with the music on  
Wishing I was somewhere else  
Taking all your anger out on me, somebody help  
I would rather rot alone   
Then spend a minute with you  
I'm gone, I'm gone_

_And you can't stop me from falling apart  
'Cause my self-destruction is all your fault'_

It was funny on how much that first line fit Vanessa perfectly. She was lying in the dark listening to her iPod. But she wasn't necessarily wishing she was somewhere else. She was just wishing that she wasn't in the same situation as she was in. She just wanted to be with Reid and have no complications. It was true that Reid couldn't stop what was meant to be. Vanessa was the prophecy weather she liked it or not. But her self-destruction wouldn't be his fault. She wouldn't let that happen.

''_How could you, how could you, how could you hate me?  
When all I ever wanted to be was you?  
How could you, how could you, how could you love me?  
When all you ever gave me were open wounds?_

Downstairs the enemy sleeps  
Leaving the TV on  
Watching all the dreams we had turn into static  
Doesn't matter what I do  
Nothing's gonna change  
I'm never good enough'

In reality her enemy was only a couple doors down. But this song had it close enough. Her dreams of being normal and just being with Reid were slowly starting to disinagrate as she realized that this was really going to happen. She was going to have to fight for her life in a matter of weeks. And nothing was going to change that.

_Tell me why you broke me down and betrayed my trust in you  
I'm not giving up, giving in when will this war end?  
When will it end??_

All she wanted to know was when this war would end? When would she be able to live her life? Would she even be able to live past her 18th birthday? All of this she had no idea. But it was nice to hear it coming through a song in some ways. It was nice to know that someone felt the same way as her. Or at least they had pretended to.

The song slowly faded as Vanessa drifted off into sleep.


	19. Chapter 19

**A:N// Alright so it's getting pretty close to me having to wrap up this story. In case you haven't noticed, Im horrible when it comes to endings. I love writing the beginning but the further I get into the book the most bored I become with the story line. But Im setting my foot down and finishing this story for you guys!**

Vanessa wasn't quite sure how, but she had managed to sleep through the entire night and most of the next day. She wasn't sure why Reid never came to wake her up, but she was glad. The sleep that she acquired in the past hours was much needed.

She opened her eyes to the sun setting and the sound of cars racing off to head to Nicky's. She glanced at the clock that was near her bed. It read 6:52 pm. Wow, she really had slept all day. Vanessa wondered how it was possible but she shrugged the thought off.

She whipped the covers off of her body and sat on the edge of her bed. Vanessa looked around in the darkened room; her only light was the setting sun that was creeping in through the cracks in her window. 

Her cell-phone started to vibrate and it danced around on her night-stand. She looked at it and hesitated before finally picking it up.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Well good-morning sleeping beauty," came the sarcastic voice that was none other than Reid Garwin.

Vanessa smiled at the sound of his voice. The last time she had talked to him was last night. A thought came to her head and she brought it to attention. "So did you talk to Tyler?" She asked.

There was a slight pause on the other end of the phone before Reid finally spoke up. "I tried. But he said that I was crazy and that Amanda was just a normal girl," he explained to Vanessa.

She sighed and looked around her room. "Whatever," she mumbled. But she knew that this problem wasn't just something that she could say whatever to. It was something that needed dealing with.

"So I guess there's another party at the Dells tonight," Reid said.

"Since when?" She asked in utter confusion. Whenever there was a party coming up at the Dells, everyone knew about it. It wasn't something that just happened at the last minute.

"That's what I said," Reid began. "But Tyler told me that there was one happening tonight."

"And how does Tyler know?" Vanessa challenged.

Reid sighed in defeat. "I don't know Vanessa. But do you want to go or not? Because it's starting in like an hour," he told her.

Vanessa sighed. Maybe she was over thinking the topic way too much. "I suppose so," she mumbled, defeated.

Her birthday was only a week away. That meant that there was only week to live her life as normal as she possibly could with Reid by her side. That meant that there was only one more week until she would have to face what she had been getting ready for, for most of her life.

"Alright, I'll be by your room in ten minutes," Reid informed her and she could hear the sound of him walking down some kind of hall-way. She guessed that he was already on his way.

"Okay," she responded before hanging up her phone.

She wasn't going to get too fancy tonight. She was still a little tired and didn't have the strongest desire to go to the party. She slipped on her dark jeans and looked around for a plain black tank-top. Once she found it she pulled it over her head and her eyes started to scan her room for her black leather jacket. She spotted it hanging over her chair and she walked over to put it on. She studied her reflection in the mirror. Nobody would guess that she only had one more week to live by the way she looked. Nobody would guess that she was in love with someone that might have to watch her die. A knock at the door startled her and she looked over at the door. "Come in," she called.

Reid opened the door and looked at her. "You look great," he complimented her and his eyes scanned her body.

Vanessa didn't have to read Reid's mind to know what he was thinking. She bit the inside of her lip. It's not that she didn't want to do _**that**_ with Reid, she just didn't want to make this any more difficult then they already were. They were in love and spending the majority of their time with one another. Wasn't that enough?

But Vanessa simply looked at him and smiled. "Thanks. So is everyone already there?" Vanessa asked, trying to divert his mind from his thoughts.

"Uh yeah," he shook his head like his mind had just been busy in thought and Vanessa shook her head with a slight smirk on her face.

He walked over to her and placed his hands on her waist and leaned in to kiss her. She kissed him back and felt his tongue slip into her mouth and it started to roam around. She felt his hands pull her body closer to his and she could feel his desire pulsing through his body. She slowly broke away and just smiled at him.

"Come on Reid," she tilted her head towards the door, but kept her arms wrapped around his neck.

"We could always stay here," he suggested with a slight grin.

Vanessa looked into his eyes and shook her head. "I think we should go to the party and keep an eye on Tyler and Amanda," she tried to convince him the best that she could.

Finally Reid gave in and let his hands drop from her waist. She took her hands off of his shoulders and let them fall by her side. He grabbed her hand and she smiled at him.

They walked out of her room and into the hall-way. A couple people were heading into their dorms for the night and a couple of them waved at Reid and Vanessa. By now, everyone had heard about the couple and knew about how Reid had been caught with that sleazy blonde. It annoyed Vanessa how everyone knew her business, but she supposed it came with the territory of dating.

Vanessa played with her keys in her hand and let her fingers roam over the designs that were dented into the silver pieces of metal. Reid reached his way across her body and grabbed the keys while she was in mid-thought.

"I'm driving," he said with a devilish grin upon his face.

Vanessa grinned and rolled her eyes at him. He was always trying to drive her car. Why not let him now?

The car ride didn't take that long but it was quiet. They talked a little about school and what Vanessa had missed earlier on in the day. Reid had gotten in a fight with Aaron and the boys. No surprise there.

Reid pulled his way into the woods and looked around. He didn't see any cars, nor did he see any people for that matter. A look of confusion crossed his face and Vanessa looked at him for some kind of explanation. He simply shrugged. "That's odd," he said, his eyes still searching for some kind of human movement.

Vanessa's eyes became even more alerted. She searched through out the dark forest until her eyes landed on some kind of light. "That way," she pointed off to where she was looking.

Reid nodded his head and carefully drove that way. When he got to where Vanessa pointed, they were in even more confusion. "What the…" Reid wasn't sure as to why the only sight he saw was Caleb's silver mustang and Pogue's motorcycle.

They got out of the car and walked over to the people that were talking.

"What's going on?" Reid asked as he approached his friends.

"We don't really know. Tyler called us down here about thirty minutes ago. He said that there was a party at the Dells and that Sarah and Kate were going to meet us here with Amanda," Pogue looked at Reid and then at Vanessa.

"TYLER!" Reid yelled out into the night.

Vanessa's hand quickly moved and placed it over his mouth to quiet him. "Shut up Reid. You don't want whatever lured us here to hear us," she warned him without looking at him. Her eyes were still searching the dark forest, looking for some kind of answer.

"What are you talking about?" Caleb asked in confusion.

"Well I assume that Reid told you guys what I said about Amanda, right?" She whispered just loud enough for them to hear.

Pogue and Caleb looked at Reid who just shrugged. "I didn't get to tell them yet. I only talked to Tyler since it seemed that he was the one who needed to know most."

Vanessa rolled her eyes and tried not to snap at him. Sure, she loved him but sometimes he could be so stupid.

"Just tell them now while I keep a look out," she ordered.

So Reid sat there and explained everything that Vanessa had told him about Amanda and about what Selene had said.

For a while Caleb and Pogue just stood there in silence. They weren't sure what to believe or say. First, it was kind of weird that Vanessa had come to Spencer's with powers that weren't anything like their own. And now they were being told that Amanda was some kind of force trying to kill her? It was pretty crazy.

But Caleb, being the leader of the group was the first to say something. "So you think Amanda tricked us to coming out here?" He asked.

Vanessa shrugged. "It's a possibility."

"But why would she want Tyler to get us all out here?" Pogue asked.

"Because if she can hurt any of you guys then it's an accomplishment. It is supposed that in my prophecy there are a group of powerful beings that help me out. And since you guys are the only one's with powers around here, it's pretty obvious that it's you guys," she explained.

Caleb and Pogue nodded their heads in understandment.

"So you don't think Kate and Sarah are out here, do you?" Pogue asked and Vanessa caught the hint of worry in his voice.

"No. She wouldn't need them out here. She didn't even have a reason to turn them against me in the first place. She was just doing that to piss me off," Vanessa insisted. She clenched her fists a little and felt the anger rise through her. She was going to rip that bitch's head off.

Pogue and Caleb let a breath out in relief and they nodded their heads once again. By this point, Vanessa was beginning to think that they were a couple of bobble-heads.

Before anyone could say anything else Vanessa heard the sound of leaves crunching in the distance. It sounded like somebody was walking, or running, towards them.

"Shhh…" Vanessa whispered and pointed in the direction in which the footsteps were coming from.

Everyone seemed to tense up a little bit as they got themselves ready for whatever was coming at them. But through the tree's came the familiar sight of Tyler. He looked like he had been running.

"What the hell is going on?" Reid demanded, clearly enraged by the false party that his friend had claimed was supposed to be happening.

Tyler rested his hands on his knees and bent over, trying to catch his breath. He pointed his hand to the cars and tried to talk. "We need….to get….out of here," he instructed.

Vanessa nodded her head and began walking to the car while the three boys walked over to Tyler to help him get into Caleb's car.

She reached out to open the door, but as soon as she had reached out a strong, invisible forced knocked her into a near-by oak tree.

All four boys snapped their heads over in Vanessa's direction.

"Vanessa!" Reid yelled as he began to run over to her.

She laid on the floor in pain and started to get up before the same invisible force dragged her higher up the tree and pinned her against it by the throat. She began chocking and gasping for breath. She kicked her legs and her hands immediately went up to grab the invisible thing that was holding her by her neck. Nothing was there to grab, but her hands were flung to the sides of the tree, being pinned as well.


	20. Chapter 20

Vanessa gasped for air as she felt her lungs begin to tighten and her throat screamed for breath. She didn't know what was holding her up in the air but she needed to get down quickly. Otherwise she was going to pass out from not being able to breath. She saw black spots begin to appear in her vision and she struggled harder, trying to get away.

Reid ran over to the tree that she was being held against and stood at the bottom of it, helpless. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know where to aim his power because he couldn't see anything. He thought about the thing that was holding Vanessa there and his eyes turned back. There was no way that he was going to let something that he couldn't see hurt her.

But before he could fire his power anywhere the invisible force dropped Vanessa and she came crashing to the ground in front of him. Reid rushed over to her and tried to help her stand. "Are you alright?" He asked with concern and anger in his voice.

She coughed and coughed, trying to get the air flowing back in to her lungs. She nodded, despite the lightness she was feeling in her head. Vanessa knew that they needed to get out of the forest, and fast. Whatever had just attacked her certainly wasn't going to give up now.

"Well, well, well," a voice echoed through the forest and into Vanessa's ears. She jerked her head in that direction and stared into the icy, cold eyes of Amanda. "Now this is what I call a party," she taunted as she walked closer to Vanessa and the boys.

Reid stepped in front of Vanessa in protection and glared at Amanda. "What the hell do you want?" He demanded with the anger rising in his voice.

Amanda didn't feel the least bit phased by Reid's threat and simply chuckled. "Her, dead," she nodded her head in the direction of Vanessa who was standing behind him, trying to regain her strength.

"Not going to happen," Reid shot back.

"Well, not tonight anyways," Amanda noted and shrugged. She leaned against the tree that Vanessa had been pinned to only minutes ago.

"Amanda," Tyler's voice broke out through the darkness. "What the hell is going on?"

Amanda snickered. "Sorry Tyler. I really did like you but I've got to do my job," she taunted and Tyler glared at her with pure hatred.

"What job?" he questioned.

"Well you see, that little prophecy of Vanessa's is going to fulfill itself pretty soon. And I'm just here to make sure nothing gets in the way of that," she explained. "You probably should have listened to Reid when he told you what I really was. If you had, this might not have happened." She laughed an evil laugh that made their skin crawl. "But I still would have hunted her down."

"Why don't you just kill me now?" Vanessa sneered as she stepped out from Reid's protection.

Apparently, Amanda was finding this rather hilarious and amusing. "You have no idea how badly I want to. But you see, my boss told me that I have to wait until your birthday. That's when it will be to our benefit the most," Amanda explained. "But that doesn't mean that I can't mess you up right here and now."

Vanessa clenched her fists and felt her energy running through her body, it screamed to be released and she wanted to obey it so badly that she almost lost control. It lunged out of her body and sped full throttle towards where Amanda was standing.

Amanda flicked her wrist and shot the ball of energy flying into Vanessa's car. The energy was consuming Vanessa too much for her to realize that Amanda had just totaled her car.

"I don't really get why you're bothering," Amanda taunted. "My powers are greater than yours right now."

That was the thing. If Amanda had come face to face with Vanessa in a normal fight Amanda would be dead in a heart-beat. But Amanda had been granted special powers tonight, to mess with Vanessa and her little friends.

"We'll just see about that," Vanessa snapped and threw another jolt of energy into Amanda.

Amanda didn't expect Vanessa to throw it so quickly. It hit her square in the chest and sent Amanda flying into the oak tree behind her. She hit it with a loud thud and landed slid down the tree and landed on the ground.

Vanessa just stared at Amanda with pure anger in her eyes and her energy was rushing through out her entire body. She walked over to Amanda and pressed her heel on Amanda's head. "If you ever come near me or my friends again, I will crush my heel into your skull," she threatened. Vanessa pushed her heel down onto Amanda's head to just make sure she was making her point.

A small grin crept its way across Amanda's face and before Vanessa knew it she was flying through the air. She landed with a loud crash on the top of her totaled car. She felt more glass break beneath her, as she guessed that she landed where the wind-shield had once been. As soon as she landed she could feel the sharp pain of glass ripping its way into her back and along the backs of her legs. She winced in pain and sat up. When she looked to where Amanda had been laying she wasn't there. Vanessa shook her head and let her senses scan the area for her presence, but nothing was there.

She sighed in defeat as she realized that Amanda was no longer there. Reid ran over to where Vanessa was sitting on top of her car and helped her get down. She started to brush the broken pieces off glass off of her body and winced when she started to pull the glass out of her back.

Vanessa rested her hands on the edge of her car, making sure that no pieces of glass could stick into her hands. She rested for a couple seconds, trying to regain her energy back. "Now do you believe me?" She turned to face Tyler who, along with Caleb and Pogue, was trying to take it what had just happened.

They all nodded their heads and gave her looks filled with apologies.

"What were you even doing out here?" Pogue asked Tyler.

"Amanda called and told me to meet her out here and to call and tell you guys to come too," he explained. "She said that her friends were throwing a party at the Dells."

"Told you she was a bitch," Vanessa mumbled to herself but made it clear enough for Tyler to hear her.

"Sorry," he apologized.

Vanessa simply nodded her head and focused her thoughts back to the pain that was surging through her body at the speed of light. There was no way that Amanda owned that kind of power all the time. So Vanessa guessed that it had been given to her as a special request for tonight.

"That sucks about your car," Pogue pointed out and Vanessa opened her eyes to find that her car was dead. The wind-shield was crashed and somehow her car looked like it had been pushed down by some invisible force. There was no way that she could get into the car. She sighed and closed her eyes again.

"Come on," Caleb instructed. "I'll give you and Reid a ride back to the dorms," he offered.

Before Vanessa could protest Reid scooped her up into his arms and started to carry her over to Caleb's car.

"Reid…" she groaned. As much as she didn't like the idea of him carrying her like a little baby she did like the feeling of it. She didn't have to worry about walking or anything like that and she let her muscles relax.

Caleb opened the back door for Reid and he placed Vanessa down on the seat. She smiled to him and mouthed the words 'thank you' to him.

Reid smiled back and made his way around the car and sat down next to her.

Tyler climbed into the front seat and Caleb sat in the driver's seat. Caleb started the engine and revved his way out of the forest with Pogue in tow on his motorcycle.

"We can come get your car tomorrow," Caleb told Vanessa.

She simply shrugged. "It's alright. We can just let them throw it away or something. I would only use it for another week anyways," she explained.

At the thought of Vanessa dying, Reid clenched his fists. "Vanessa…" he growled with anger.

"Reid, I have to think of it like it's going to come true," she insisted with pure annoyance in her voice.

"It's not going to happen!" He insisted and his voice grew a tad louder.

"Just because you don't want something to happen doesn't mean it's not going to!" She yelled at him.

There was silence and neither Caleb nor Tyler knew what to say.

Vanessa stared out the window and tried to get her anger to settle down. She felt bad for snapping at Reid, but he really needed to think about how she really could die next week. He needed to get used to the idea and he needed to stop telling himself that there was no way that she was going to die.

The rest of the car ride was silent except for Caleb calling Sarah to make sure that she was okay. She told him that she was fine and that she was just hanging out with Kate in their room. Caleb told him everything that had just happened. Vanessa wasn't really sure what Sarah had said to that but she didn't really care. That's what she had tried telling them in the first place but they chose not to believe her.

When Caleb pulled into the parking lot of Spencer's he stopped the car in front of the main entrance into the dorms. He brought his hand to his chin and rested it there. "Just go back inside and stay in for the night. We don't know if Amanda is still around or not so you should stay out of sight," Caleb commanded them.

They all nodded and silently got out of the car.

Vanessa slammed the door close and started to make her way up the stairs without waiting for Reid. She was still a little pissed off at him and just wanted to go to bed.

Reid walked next to Tyler. He wanted to talk to Vanessa again but he knew that he had pushed her buttons and that she was pissed. He wondered if she was going to make him sleep in his own room again. He sighed as he realized that she probably was going to. He just wanted to spend the night with her. After she made him realize that he had a week it had made him scared, but he didn't want to tell her that. He wanted to be brave for her, but he couldn't even be brave for himself.

She opened the door and walked into the familiar building. Vanessa turned right and headed for the girls dorm. She knew that Reid and Tyler were going to have to turn left to where the boys' dorm was. She wasn't sure if Reid was going to make a fuss about staying with her about. But she wasn't sure what she was going to say to him either.

When Reid saw Vanessa turn right without so much as a word to him he sighed and decided that it might be the right thing to talk to her. "Vanessa," he called out to her.

Vanessa stopped walking and turned to face him. She didn't say anything but made it look like she was listening, which she was.

Reid walked up next to her after he waved Tyler off. "I'm sorry about earlier. I just don't like it when you say that you're going to die," he pleaded.

She sighed and tried not to show the sorrow that she was feeling. "I know but you need to snap out of that little fantasy of yours and get back to reality. The reality is that I probably am going to die," she explained. "And I didn't want this to happen. I didn't want to put you through this." She could feel the tears brimming her eyes and she blinked them back.

"But I thought you wanted this," he asked a little confused.

Vanessa shook her head. "I did. I mean, I do. But I just don't want to put you through all the pain and agony that you'll go through when I'm-," she tried to finish her sentence but Reid brought his finger to her lips to silence her.

"Don't say it," he begged her with sadness of his own filling his blue eyes.

She nodded her head and just stared at him. "I just don't know what to do anymore," she sobbed and leaned her head against his chest.

Reid wrapped his hands around her body and pulled her close. He didn't want to lose her. All he wanted was to have her with him forever. He finally fell in love and someone was going to take it all away from him? It just wasn't fair.

"Come on," he pulled her away from him and looked into her eyes. "You should get some sleep."

She laughed a little and wiped a tear away from her eye. "I think I got plenty of sleep in the past twenty-four hours," she joked.

Reid laughed a little and wrapped his arm around her shoulder and began to walk her to her room. "Yeah but I wasn't with you," he whispered into her ear.

She smiled and put her arm around his waist.

When they finally got to her room she opened the door and walked inside. She collapsed on her bed and groaned. She needed to change into something more comfortable but didn't feel like moving.

Reid looked at her with an amused look on his face.

She sat up and looked at him and laughed a little. She searched her room for something comfortable. She spotted her Spencer sweat-pants that Sarah and Kate had talked her into buying. She crawled off of her bed and over to them. She tugged her jacket off of her sore body and threw it on the ground. She pulled her jeans off and pulled the sweat-pants over her lower torso. She looked around for something comfy to wear over her black tank-top but couldn't seem to find anything. Vanessa's eyes finally landed upon Reid and a mischievous grin passed over her face.

She walked over to him and embraced him in a tight hug. She pulled him over to her bed and pulled him down with her. She snuggled into his warm body and rested her head on his chest. She listened to his steady heart-beat and matched it with the pattern of her breathing.

"I love you," she heard him whisper.

She looked up at him and smiled. "I love you too."

It seemed like they stared into one another's eyes forever until they both finally fell asleep in each others arms.

**A:N// Yay! You guys got two chapters today. Maybe even three? I'm super determined to finish this book!!! In case you are reading my other book Endless Summer, you should all know that I am no longer writing it. I turned it over to my friend Gabby. It will still be posted under my name but I'm not writing it. PLEASE REVIEW YOU GUYS! **


	21. Chapter 21

Several days had passed since the incident in the woods with Amanda. Amanda never showed up at school anymore and that scared them. Mostly Vanessa, but she didn't show it. She needed to be the strong one for the group and she couldn't do that if she was cowering in fear. So she pretended like it didn't bother her at all.

Now it was only days before Vanessa's birthday. It was Wednesday and she had until Saturday. Saturday was her 18th birthday and it was the day that the prophecy took place.

For Vanessa, it felt like time just kept creeping up on her. It felt like only yesterday that she had begun her first day of school at Spencer's. But she had been preparing for this day practically her entire life and she was ready. Or at least she thought she was.

Of course, Vanessa had made up with Kate and Sarah. They had been told the truth about Amanda and Vanessa. They had sat in silence for what felt like forever until Sarah had finally spoken up. Sarah nodded her head and explained that every time she had been near Amanda she felt like she wasn't in control of her own thoughts. Vanessa explained that Amanda had probably been tampering with them so that they would continue to be faithful to her.

After the whole encounter with the girls Vanessa had gone back to her dorm and slept. She didn't know what everyone else did, but she didn't care. There was too much on her mind to care. She had no idea what was going on with Reid and what he was thinking but she knew that it couldn't be anything good. The poor guy was probably miserable and it was all Vanessa's fault. She couldn't stand knowing that it was her who had put him through this.

Vanessa was just hanging outside, sitting on a near by picnic bench and thinking. The sky was dark and gloomy and it looked like it was going to rain, but that didn't convince her to move. She was standing her ground, or sitting it. Which ever. She wondered what was going to happen on Saturday and how it was going to happen. Would she be summoned somewhere or was she going to be tricked into going into some kind of battlefield? She didn't know but it was all she could think about.

She took out her side-kick and looked at the time. It was nearly nine and she wondered if everyone was at Nicky's or something. She shrugged and continued to look through her side-kick. Vanessa looked through her pictures and found one that she loved the most. It was of her and Reid when they had gone out for breakfast that one morning. It was weird because Vanessa didn't remember taking it at all. She thought that she hadn't even been that close to Reid for him to take a picture. It was weird, but cute. She was glad that he did.

After closing her side-kick and stuffing it back into her coat pocket and glanced back up at the sky. The moon was full and it was the only light that was available outside. Usually the school lights would be on but they were off, seeing that either nobody was in the dorms or they were sleeping. The loved the way that the moon gave off and eerie glow. Most people thought that the eeriness of the moon was creepy, but Vanessa loved it. She wasn't sure why but it comforted her.

She took out her iPod and put the earphones into her ears. She searched down the list of songs until she found one that she wanted to listen to. The music began seeping in through her earphones and into her own ears. She hummed along with the music until she felt like singing it.

_Well it's 9 pm and you still haven't called me back,_

_I never try again; I think you feel like you're under attack._

_I don't think I can take it,_

_I don't think I can make it,_

_I just want this to go away._

_Trying to be someone that you know your not,_

_It gets harder everyday._

_All the lonely days, there's no one left to love_

_You wish life would go away._

_Now its 2 am and Im pacing around on the floor,_

_I wait for you to come home, but you never come walk through that door._

_Now Im trying to fake it,_

_I just can't seem to shake it,_

_I just want this to go away._

Vanessa loved this song for several reasons. It was how she felt in many days. She felt like everything was getting harder every day. Only, it wasn't because of some boy. It was because of who she was. Who she was born to be.

She sighed and tugged the earphones out of her ears and wrapped them around her iPod. She tucked it into the other pocket and ran a hand through her hair. She just wanted to get everything over with, but at the same time she didn't. She didn't want to leave Reid and all her friends behind.

The sound of foot-steps approaching alerted her senses and she kept still. Turning around wouldn't help much, but she had a feeling that it wasn't anything dangerous. She listened as they became closer and closer within a matter of seconds.

"Vanessa."

She turned around to see the smiling face of Tyler. She hadn't had any one on one time with Tyler, ever. And it was a little weird that he was approaching her since the whole Amanda blow-out.

"Hey Tyler," she said to him.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked her.

She shrugged. "I dunno. I guess I'm just kind of thinking." 

"About what?" Tyler asked.

"Just stuff. You know, like Saturday."

Tyler nodded his head and she knew that he didn't know what to say. Nobody ever knew what to say to her. It was like they couldn't comfort her because there was no comfort to be found. What were they supposed to say? 'Oh I know you're supposed to die but at least you had a fun time in the long run!' Yeah, not a chance.

She smiled at him in reassurance that it was alright. She knew what he was thinking and that made him blush. Tyler still wasn't quite used to having someone able to read his mind.

"Why aren't you at Nicky's?" She asked him, trying to change the subject off of an awkward one.

Tyler shrugged. "I was there for a little while with the guys, Kate and Sarah but it got boring."

"Because I wasn't there," Vanessa joked with a grin.

Tyler chuckled and nodded his head. "Most definitely."

She sighed and Tyler walked over and sat down on the picnic table next to Vanessa.

"I'm worried about Reid," Vanessa confessed to him.

Tyler didn't say anything but let her know that he was listening.

"I'm worried about how Saturday is going to change him. I don't want him to become this miserable mess once I…" she trailed off, not wanting to finish her dreadful sentence.

"We're all scared."

"Tyler, can I ask you for a favor?" She asked him with a pleading look on her face.

He looked at her and nodded his head.

"Just promise me that once Saturday is all over, that you'll help Reid. You'll help him to stay who he is and maybe even….tell him that it's alright to love again," she said in a hushed whisper.

Silence over took them and he nodded his head. "I promise," he told her.

Vanessa was glad that Tyler wasn't giving her all that horse shit about her not dying. He knew it pretty well and she was thankful for that. She got enough bull from Reid, the guy that she loved, and that hurt enough. She didn't need it from Tyler too.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled to her.

"What for?" She asked him. She hoped that he wasn't going to apologize for her and what she was. Vanessa didn't need that and it sure as hell wasn't going to help.

"Not believing you about Amanda," he started to explain. "I knew her for only a couple days while I've known you for months. I should have believed you."

She smiled at him and shrugged. "It's alright, Tyler. I guess you just had to see for yourself to believe it. Some people are like that, it's not your fault."

Tyler shrugged. "Yeah I know. But still, I shouldn't have let her trick me."

Vanessa felt bad for Tyler. He was beating himself up for something that wasn't his fault. Amanda had manipulated him and he had no control over it. She pitied him in her mind.

"Is Reid and everyone else still at Nicky's?" she asked him out of the blue.

"Yeah," he said with a nod of his head.

She nodded her head as she processed the little information that didn't need to be processed in the first place. She was glad that Reid was out with his friends, without her. He kind of needed to get used to it.

"You want me to walk you back to your dorm?" Tyler asked.

Vanessa shook her head. "I think I'm going to stay out here a little longer," she told him.

He nodded his head and got up from his spot on the picnic table. "See you later Vanessa," Tyler told her and walked away and into the dorm building.

She watched him walk and thought about how lucky he was. Tyler didn't have a care in the world. Well, she knew that he worried about her for Reid. He cared for his best friend and didn't want to see him wallow in his misery. Especially since Tyler would be the one to have to help him out, not that he minded. But still, he didn't have to worry about dying anytime soon. Or the fact that the person he loved was going to die.

Vanessa sighed and got up from her place on the picnic table as well. She just wanted to scream out into the night. She wanted to let all of her anger and frustrations go. But she knew that if she really screamed that people would come out asking what was wrong, and she didn't want to tell them. Not that she would in the first place.

She tucked her hands into her coat pockets and counted how many steps it took to get from the picnic bench to the dorm doors. When she finally got there she realized that it took 216 steps. She didn't think that the picnic bench was that close, but apparently it was.

When she finally got up to her room she went inside and crawled into bed. She still had her clothes on but she didn't really care. She liked the secure feeling that her jeans gave her. They gave her warmth too.

Vanessa listened to sound of rain drops hitting the roof and the window sills and they rapidly became faster. The sound calmed her and her eye lids fluttered closed until she was sound asleep.

Vanessa only had 3 days left. 3 Days to live. 3 Days to laugh. 3 Days to love.

**A:N// Err…okay so I'm having some intense writers block. I know what's going to happen on Saturday duh and Friday. But Thursday? It'll be boring. Please give me reviews!! Even though before this chapter I had 69 reviews. Yeah, I laughed for a couple hours.**


	22. Chapter 22

Thursday was gone. It was the almighty Friday. Tomorrow was the day. _The_ day. The day when the prophecy was supposed to take place.

Vanessa couldn't remember the last time that she went to school. She had been skipping a lot lately and just sleeping in her room, calling in sick. Reid always brought her school work but it was just sitting on the floor of her room. Taunting her and telling her how she was never going to do it. How she wasn't going to be _able_ to do it.

She woke up and rolled over in her bed to see what time it was. Her digital clock read off 10:42. That meant that everyone was still in class and they wouldn't be out until 3. She rolled back over and sighed. Vanessa stared at the ceiling with a million different thoughts running through her mind right now. She was so anxious and she hated the feeling.

Vanessa wanted to go for a run. She wasn't quite sure why but she had the urge to just get up and take a long run. Vanessa knew that nobody would see her because everyone would be in class, aside from those very few students that were always skipping.

She hopped up from her bed and quickly changed into a pair of shorts and a tank-top. She slipped on her running shoes and walked out of her room. She searched the halls to make sure that nobody was in them or anything and then she walked outside.

It wasn't horrible outside. It was slightly raining, but it was light rain. Not pouring or anything like that. Vanessa figured that it would go away within the hour.

She began jogging at first. Her footsteps hit the ground lightly and made a squishing noise between the rubber and the pavement. Tree's lined the walk-way on both sides of her. They were diagonal of one another. The way they were lined up was practically perfect.

Perfection. Vanessa thought about how it was such a strange and unrealistic word. Who had been the moron to think of it? Everyone in the world was always striving to accomplish it or they were either wasting their lives away because they knew that they could never accomplish it. Either way, she knew that people were destroying their lives over it. Vanessa only wished that she had been able to live her life that way. Wanting to be perfect in her high school instead of running from town to town.

When she really thought about it, she thought about how silly running away seemed. Whenever she ran off to a different town to keep herself safe, she never thought about it before. She never asked questions. But now, she wanted to know why. Why was she running? Why didn't she just stay and fight? Maybe then she would have been able to either fight it off or just die. There was no sense in running away when she would just die anyways.

Finally she was running at full-speed and the wind was whipping in her face while the rain was falling down over her entire body. Her hair was already wet and her tank-top was soaked. She figured that she was probably going to get sick and that she needed to keep well-rested for tomorrow, but she didn't care anymore.

Vanessa knew that that was a bad thing, not caring. But she figured that she was either going to die or she wasn't. Simple as that. It's not like she had any friends to say good-bye to…

Oh yeah. Her friends. She forgot about them until now. Vanessa guessed that she had been so up in her thoughts that everyone had escaped her mind.

First there was Reid. How could she forget him? He was her first love and the first person that had gotten to know her for who she was. She didn't know what she was going to do without him. She needed to be spending her last hours with him. Vanessa wasn't going to let Reid come tomorrow night. There was no way that she was going to put him in danger. He was just too important to her. Her mind was rummaging through all of the memories that she had with him. The time that they went out to breakfast and that night at Nicky's when she had seen his powers. And then there was that time when everything had gone down-hill. She didn't want to remember when she had walked in on him and that skanky blonde. But it had happened. Vanessa forgave him and then things got so much better. Nope. There was no way in hell that she was going to let him go anywhere near that battle.

Sarah Wenham. She was the first person that Vanessa had met at Spencer's. She was the first friend that she had made. Sure, she still didn't know Sarah all that well. But she knew her more than any other girl at this school. She cared about Sarah even though that had had their differences. But it had never been Sarah's fault truly. Only Amanda's fault.

The thought of Amanda enraged Vanessa and she began to run harder. Her arms pumped more and more until she was running full speed. Her adrenaline was rushing through-out her entire body and she loved the feeling. She knew that this was the feeling that was going to over-come her tomorrow night. Vanessa just wanted to get it over.

She thought about Kate and how Kate had been really sweet to her. She hadn't expected Kate to be that nice. Vanessa had honestly thought Kate was going to be one of those stuck up girls that the school seemed to be filled with. Vanessa remembered when Kate had pulled her into the girl's bathroom to ask her about Reid. Vanessa smiled as she remembered it. Both Sarah and Kate had trapped Vanessa in the car to ask what was going on with her and Reid. It felt like Vanessa was normal for once in her life. Being trapped by two best friends so that way she could dish about her crush. She just wished that she would have more opportunities to do that.

Vanessa didn't know the other Sons all that well. But there was Tyler. Tyler who had been the second closest guy that she had. Even though it had gone down-hill since the whole Amanda incident. She could never understand why Tyler had believed Amanda over Vanessa. But he seemed to be pretty upset about it now, and she thought that was cute. Especially since their talk the other night, everything felt better now. Vanessa figured that she would rather leave everything behind having peaceful relationships rather than having everything messy and such. She could only imagine how that would have ended up.

Pogue and Caleb were different of course. The two always held friendly conversations with Vanessa. She knew that they had both been a bit hesitant towards her once they had figured out that she knew their secret. But now they seemed to be cool about the whole ordeal since the Amanda incident. Vanessa just needed to figure something out so that none of them would be there tomorrow night.

She didn't care what Selene said. Vanessa knew that she was stubborn but she wasn't going to let that get in the way of making sure that the people she cared about stayed safe.

Vanessa wasn't sure how long she had been running exactly but she figured it had been a really long time. Because by the time she returned to Spencer's it was dark out and there were people coming outside and heading to their cars so they could go to Nicky's.

She jogged inside and quickly headed off to her room to grab her things so that she could shower.

Once she held her things in her hands she headed off to the shower room where she hoped that nobody was.

Luckily, nobody was inside and Vanessa was glad. She walked into the actual shower and closed the door behind her. She turned on the hot water and slipped the towel off from around her naked body. She hung it on a hook and stepped in under the steaming water.

She let it rush all over her body and she closed her eyes. It felt so good on her cold body that it almost stung. But she didn't care. She just wanted the hot water to block out everything. All the noises and all of her surroundings.

When she was finally all washed off and clean she turned the shower off reluctantly and grabbed her towel. She wrapped it around her body and grabbed her stuff.

Vanessa walked back to her room and she counted her steps from the shower room to her room. When she was finally there she looked up at her door and opened it.

She walked inside and jumped a little. Reid was standing over her bed and looked at some of her things that were sitting on her night-stand.

"You scared me," she said with a smile. Vanessa set her shower things down on her desk.

Reid looked up at her and smiled. He placed the object that he was looking at back on the table and turned to face her. "Sorry about that."

It wasn't until that moment that Vanessa realized that she was naked underneath her towel. She saw Reid's eyes wondering all over her body and she could feel a blush begin to rise to her cheeks but she forced it to go away. There was no way that she was going to go soft on him now. She knew that if he saw her blush that he would know what she wanted. And quite frankly, she wasn't sure if she was ready.

Reid walked over to her and placed his hand on her neck and pushed her chin up with his thumb so that her eyes were looking into his.

"Reid," Vanessa began to say but she was silenced by Reid putting his lips onto her own.

They were kissing so passionately that anybody who saw them would stop in their tracks and just say. "Yeah, those two are in love." Without a doubt that would happen, if Vanessa and Reid had been in public.

But they weren't. They were in Vanessa's room. Alone and with Vanessa practically naked.

The kiss was deepened as Reid pulled her closer to his body and his other hand was on the lower part of her back.

Vanessa's left hand was resting on his arm that was on her neck and her other hand was resting gently in the loop on his jeans.

Inside Vanessa's mind she knew what was happening. She had stopped Reid from doing this so many times before. But now, now she didn't want to stop him. She was going to be gone tomorrow and she was never going to see him again. Why should she stop him? She didn't have a reason. Well, except for the fact that there was a possibility that this was only going to make his heart-break worse. But Vanessa thought about it and this was what she wanted. And she knew for a fact that this was what Reid wanted. Sure, she had had her moments when she thought that Reid only wanted it because he was a guy and he was a well-known player around Spencer's. But the first time that Vanessa said no she couldn't remember him trying anything with her after that. Well, until now. But she knew that he was thinking the same thing. There might not be a later on to do this. They just loved each other so much and both wanted it just as much as the other.

This night was perfect and it was exactly how Vanessa wanted everything to end. She wanted to be with Reid and him only.

**A:N// Okay so sorry for the wait. My writers block was intense but I got over it. It's short. But its okay because of what happened. Cut me some slack you guys! Reviews are loved!!**


	23. Chapter 23

Vanessa woke up and she forgot where she was for a small moment. She looked around and saw her clothes lying on the ground, but that wasn't anything new. Her clothes were always on the ground. What she didn't expect to see were the clothes of Reid lying right next to her own. Vanessa rolled over and saw that Reid was laying right next to her in her bed. She smiled as she remembered what had happened the previous night. For her, it had been magic and it was even greater because it had been the eve of her birthday.

Then she remembered. For a split second in time she had almost forgotten about her birthday. Her birthday was today. Today was the day that she had been waiting for since she could remember. Vanessa rested her head on her pillow as she gazed upon Reid's sleeping figure. Everything that had happened the past couple of months had been the best time of Vanessa's life. It was too bad that today was her last day. Sometimes she would tell herself that she wasn't going to die, then other times she told herself that she was. But today was one of those days where she just knew. She knew what was going to happen and she had to make sure that Reid wasn't there to witness it. She couldn't imagine making him watch her die. She already felt bad because she was leaving him. 

She sat up in her bed and looked around her room once more. She remembered when she had first come to Spencer's and it had looked like a nice room. Now it was covered with clothes and other things that belonged to Vanessa. It seemed like she had been normal. Well, almost. Vanessa crawled out of her bed and grabbed her robe to cover herself up. She needed a shower, but she felt bad for leaving Reid alone in her room. He knew it was her birthday and if he woke up to find her gone, she could only imagine what kind of fit he might throw. So she decided to write him a small note.

Vanessa grabbed a piece of paper and quickly scribbled down that she was going to take a shower. After placing it on her night-stand next to her bed, she grabbed her stuff and headed out of her room.

She walked down the hallway and didn't see that many people. She figured everyone was eating breakfast or something. She didn't see what time it was when she left her room and she didn't really feel like going back. She just shrugged off the thought entirely and walked into the girl's bathroom.

Vanessa took off her robe and stepped into the shower. She turned the handle and warm water began to pour out of the head. She rinsed off her body and began to wash her hair. Flashes from the previous night began to make its way back to the front of her mind and she couldn't help but to smile. It had been the perfect birthday present. One that wouldn't be wasted. She already knew that she wouldn't accept anything from friends because it would be too sad. They would just have to return them anyways.

After she rinsed off she put her robe back on and walked back to her room. She said hello to a few people that were making their way back to their dorms from breakfast. She managed to fake a smile as well. Now that was stretching it. Smiling was the last thing that Vanessa wanted to do today. She just wanted to get it over with. But that meant leaving Reid. She sighed and opened up her door to her room.

Reid was in the middle of reading the note and Vanessa tossed her shower stuff on the floor. She didn't see the point in cleaning up or anything. Some random people would probably take care of that for her tomorrow. Or whenever they found out that she was gone.

He looked up at her and set the note down. "When I woke up I was a little scared that you weren't there," he confessed. Reid walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Vanessa gave him a small smile and wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. She sort of thought that if she never let go then she wouldn't have to return to her real life. The life that was filled with death and sorrow. But when she was with Reid it seemed like all she had to think about was her friends and love. How simple.

She laughed a little. "Well that's why I left you the note."

"So I noticed."

She pulled back a little from him and looked him in the eyes. She could see that he knew what today was and that there was no way that he had forgotten. She had hoped that he would have forgotten so that she could slip out at any point. But there was no use.

"Listen," he began. "I know what today is and I know you know too. But that doesn't mean that we can't have a good time. It is still your birthday."

Vanessa sighed. She thought it was nice that he was trying to be optimistic. But still, she didn't want to be reminded in any way that it was her birthday. "I don't want to have a good time," she told him.  
Reid looked confused and raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

She pulled away from him and walked over to her bed and sat down. Vanessa gazed out the window and began to speak. "I mean that I don't want to pretend that what is going to happen today isn't going to happen." She looked at him. "Im tired of pretending."

Reid didn't know what to say. He felt like Vanessa was acting like a different person. Or at least that's what he thought. But he wasn't going to let Vanessa know how upset he really was. He was just trying to help. He was just trying to forget. Because maybe if he forgot, then it wouldn't happen. But who was he kidding. Of course it was going to happen. They didn't write prophecies just for nothing.

"Fine," he muttered and walked over to her. He sat down next to her and pulled her close.

They sat in silence for what seemed like forever. There came a knock at Vanessa's door and she looked up. 

Vanessa walked over to her door and opened it. There, stood Selene. Vanessa gave her a small smile and walked in.

Reid looked up and noticed that Selene was here. He gave her a smile before walking over to Vanessa and giving her a quick kiss. "Call me later," he told her.

Vanessa nodded her head and closed the door after he left.

"Vanessa," Selene began. "I expect you not to flounder around today."

Vanessa sat on her bed and nodded her head. "I know that."

"I just wanted to come by and tell you that I'll be picking you up later." 

There was no doubt about it. Practically everyone was getting ready for the war to take place. Now there were people who were going to die for her and people who were going to get seriously hurt for her. She didn't need any of that shit on her conscious at the moment.

Vanessa nodded her head. She knew that by saying anything Selene would be able to tell how scared that she really was for tonight. She figured that by not saying anything Selene would think that Vanessa was just getting ready mentally.

"I know it says that someone I love will risk their life for me," Vanessa began. "But I don't want Reid to get hurt." It was amazing on how only a couple months ago she could never have pictured herself saying that.

Selene sighed and walked over to Vanessa. She sat down next to her and thought about what she should say. She did have her duties as Vanessa's guardian to not fill her head with foolish thoughts. But she was also her mother figure and needed to make sure that Vanessa stayed alright.

"I know," Selene said.

"It's just so hard," Vanessa confessed and tried her best not to cry.

"Why don't you take a little nap and I'll be by shortly to pick you up?" Selene suggested.

Vanessa looked at her in confusion. She thought that it was still morning and no later than noon. But when she looked at the clock it was nearly 1:30. The sound of a nap did sound nice and Vanessa was still a little tired from the previous night.

"Yeah I think I'll do that," Vanessa said in agreement.

Selene smiled and said her good-byes. She told Vanessa that she would pick her up later on. 

Vanessa crawled into bed, forgetting about calling Reid back. She soon fell asleep with the sound of a few people walking around in the dorms.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vanessa woke up with a start as she looked around her room. Her eyes landed on the alarm clock that she had bought a few months ago for her new dorm room. The digital numbers read out the time 6:57. Vanessa didn't exactly know when Selene was going to be picking her up, but she knew that it had to be soon.

She got out of bed and got dressed in what she was going to wear for the battle. She didn't like calling it a battle, but that's what it was. She wore her black jeans with her black t-shirt. Vanessa put her jean-jacket over her shirt and looked in the mirror. If she was going to die tonight she was going to do it with style. After all, she was still Vanessa Turner.

When she had been asleep she had gotten the craziest ideas. But the thing was, they were really great ideas. She wasn't going to wait for Selene to come and get her, and as much as it killed her, she wasn't going to say good-bye to Reid. If she didn't tell Reid when she was leaving then he wouldn't have the chance to try and save her. She didn't need to be saved. She needed to leave, knowing that he would live. No matter what the price was.

But she did feel bad about not saying good-bye. She pulled out a piece of paper and decided to write Reid a good-bye letter. She figured that it was the least that she could do.

Dear Reid,

Im sorry that I have to do it this way, but there isn't another way. I know how mad you're going to be when you read this and I know your going to try to find me. But don't. By the time you read this it's going to be too late. Just know that I love you. You were my first and last love. I don't care if you find somebody else after Im gone. All I want is for you to stay alive and to be happy. It's better this way. Trust me on that one, please.

When I first came here I thought that you were this player who only wanted to get in my pants. I figured that just having a little fun wouldn't hurt anyone. But it turned out that what we found was much greater. I cant tell you enough how much I love you. Please, don't try to look for me. What you find might be more depressing than this letter.

I love you, Reid.

Love,  
Vanessa

After she was done writing she looked at the note and gave it a small kiss. She felt like she was killing herself inside because of what she was doing. But if it meant that Reid stayed alive, then it was worth it.

Vanessa grabbed the keys to her car and snuck out of her room. She looked both ways, making sure that nobody she knew was around. That was the last thing she needed. Vanessa knew that she couldn't explain herself if someone saw her sneaking out of her room. Let alone if it was Reid.

Once she was outside, she ran to her car as fast as she could. She wondered if someone saw her drive away, if they would tell Reid or one of her other friends. But nobody else knew what tonight really was for her.

After driving for a good half hour to the song 24, Vanessa came upon woods. Woods that made her think of the dream she had only a few months ago. That dream was her night-mare and it had been so real. She still had no idea if it was just a nightmare or a premonition. But she hoped that it was just a regular night-mare.

Vanessa got out of her car, after making sure that it was well-hidden so that nobody could see it. She didn't need somebody finding her car and go looking for her. There were a lot of things tonight that could go horribly wrong.

In less than twenty-four hours, she wouldn't be alive. She would be gone. Off of the face of planet. Vanessa shook her head to get the thoughts out of her head. It wasn't helping that she was being a pessimist. Then again, it's not like she was going to turn around and be all optimistic.

She walked into the woods and kept her senses alert. She didn't want any surprise attacks or anything like that. But she still didn't know what to expect. She had all of the training and she knew what to do. But she never knew what was going to happen exactly. After walking around for about five minutes she felt calmness wash over her. She knew that wasn't good and that she needed to be tense and alert. Being calm was the worse thing that could happen. Well, one of them anyways.

Something in her gut told her to look down and she followed her instinct. What she saw made her choke up. It was the black thing that she had seen in her dream. Now she knew all too well that it had been some kind of a set-up. Someone, or something, had put that image into her mind. It wanted to make her get panicky right away and so that by the time her birthday came, the thoughts would be out of her head. She knew that if she started running that she would only fall down. But still, she wanted to meet that mystery man that she had met in her dream. She wanted to kill that son of a bitch. The danger was high, but she didn't care.

Vanessa began to run.

Selene got out of her car and walked into Spencer's Academy. This wasn't the proudest moment of her life, but it had to be done. She needed to get Vanessa and bring her into the woods where the war would begin.

But truth be told, this war had been going on for much longer than it was presumed. For centuries, the prophecy had been passed down. It would continue being passed down until the correct heir was born. Then, it would all end.

She walked into Vanessa's room, but it was empty. She became angry quickly and looked around for Vanessa. Selene tried to stay calm, thinking that Vanessa was in the bathroom or something like that. She couldn't believe that Vanessa would disobey her like that.

Selene came upon the note that Vanessa had written for Reid. She didn't read it yet, she wanted to see where Reid was.

She stormed down to Reid Garwin's room and knocked on the door.

It was opened within seconds and Reid looked disappointed when it wasn't Vanessa. But he remembered who the woman was and then Reid got a little frightened.

"Where's Vanessa?" Selene asked with fierceness in her tone.

Reid's eyes became very wide as he realized what Selene was asking him. When he didn't say anything, she gave him the note.

"I found this in her room. I didn't read it but you probably should," she instructed. Selene was itching to read the note, but she knew that Reid would let her read it after. If not, she would read his mind. Simple as that.

Reid's eyes scanned the letter. He read it twice, just to make sure that he wasn't going insane. After he was done, he looked up at Selene. "Where is she?" He asked.

Selene shrugged. "I don't know. That's why I came to find you." She wasn't sure why the boy had asked where Vanessa was when that was the first thing that she had said after knocking on his door.

"We need to find her," Reid said. He sounded angry and he tried to hide his fear by pretending to be brave. He was pissed off that Vanessa would do this to him. If she loved him as much as she claimed, then she would have said a proper good-bye. Not the shitty note. Reid didn't know what to do. But he knew one thing; he was going to find her.

Selene nodded her head and turned around, waiting for Reid to follow her. Her own thoughts and emotions were rushing around. She was angry and disappointed in Vanessa. But part of her knew about this all along. She knew that Vanessa was stubborn and independent.

She led Reid to her car and ordered him to get in. They drove in an awkward silence. But both had many things on their mind. None of which, were fit for a proper discussion.

Selene pulled her car into the forest and she knew immediately that Vanessa was here. "She's in the forest," Selene told Reid.

Reid nodded his head and got out of the car. He began to run but Selene called out to him.

"You cant go in there alone," Selene told him.

Reid looked at her like she was crazy. "And why not? Vanessa's in there and im not going to let her die."

Selene nodded her head and pulled out her own sword. "I know. But you do realize what your getting yourself into. Right? This is a war."

Reid hesitated while he thought it over. It was strange to him as to why it was called a war. But he didn't care. Vanessa was in there and he needed to save her. "I know," he said with a nod of his head.

And with that he ran into the woods with Selene in tow.

**A:N// Im wicked sorry you guys. I've been really busy because of my operation. I leave tomorrow for a week vacation, but I doubt that will affect anything because I barely write. Im trying really hard to finish this up. Im thinking another 2-4 chapters and it's all set!!!! Please, please, please review! Its motivation! **


	24. Chapter 24

Vanessa fell to the ground with a thump and her legs were throbbing with pain. The black shadow had crawled up her leg and it was much heavier than it had been in her dream. Vanessa hadn't made it as far as she had in her dream. So she got up and tried running some more. She was sweating like crazy and every inch of her legs were in pain.

She leaned against a tree while she tried to re-gain some of her strength. But that just made it easier for the shadow to continue moving up her body. That wasn't good. So she began running again until she found herself on the forest floor, once again.

Vanessa rolled over onto her back and coughed a little. The pain was searing and it felt like she was dying. But she knew that the worse had yet to come. When she died she was supposed to be killed with a special sword. One that could only kill once. If and when it killed Vanessa it would take all of her powers and her life force, leaving her dead. Then the sword would transfer its powers over to the dark side's leader.

She felt like someone was watching her so she looked up and looked around the area. She didn't see anything, but that didn't mean that it wasn't there.

A shadow walked out from behind a tree, and Vanessa knew right away who it was. It was the man in her dreams. The one that had killed her. But that wasn't going to happen tonight. Not this time.

She could feel her breathing growing deeper and deeper as she realized that she was having a hard time breathing. She felt like someone was suffocating her. The man began to laugh and she knew that he was doing something to her. But she didn't know how to stop it.

"Vanessa, Vanessa, Vanessa," he said with a tone that made Vanessa want to puke. The way that he said her name even made her cringe.

"That pain your feeling now is nothing compared to what you will feel in a few moments," he explained to her.

Vanessa couldn't say anything. She was having a difficult time keeping conscious. If she passed out then she was screwed, and that wasn't a good thing.

It was like the man read her mind because he did something and she could breathe again.

Vanessa doubled over in pain and tried to catch her breath. The air began to fill her lungs again and she slowly but surely gained control over her breathing again.

"Who are you?" Vanessa asked. She didn't like the idea of asking that question, but she wanted to know who he was.

"Your worse night-mare."

Vanessa scoffed a little. That's what all the bad-guys said. It was such a classic line but it was a pathetic one.

The man chuckled a little bit and shook his head. Vanessa couldn't see his face and she didn't like that. It freaked her out a little.

"Well Vanessa, lets just say that your powers will be mine by the end of tonight," he told her.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Vanessa gained recognition of who he was. He was the leader. The one that wanted her dead the most. Of course, other people on his side did too, but he was the one who needed it the most.

"You won't get my powers," she spat at him. She didn't know why she had said it, but she felt like she actually believed her own words.

Apparently, he found this amusing and laughed at her. "I always knew you were funny."

Vanessa rolled her eyes and tried to get up. But a strong force pushed her back down and pain surged through her entire body. No matter what she did, the pain wouldn't go away. It was like the more she moved, the more it became painful. Not moving didn't help either. The pain was unbearable.

She wondered why it was only him out there. From what she was always told, there was supposed to be an army. She was supposed to have an army too. But things weren't exactly going as planned.

"I bet your wondering where my army is," he said with a small snicker. He was reading her mind and Vanessa knew right off the bat that that wasn't good. "Well," he began. "I told them not to come."

Vanessa was confused as to why he would do that. Wouldn't he be dead if her own army showed up?

"Your army isn't coming either," he told her. "I've decided that killing you myself would be much more satisfactory than just hearing about it or watching it."

If Vanessa wasn't in so much pain then she would have killed him right then and there. But the thought of moving was making her want to kill herself even more. Whatever he was doing, it was working and it was tearing her apart.

He pulled out a sword with a golden handle. Millions of symbols ran up and down the sword. Some of them, Vanessa was able to decipher.

"You know Vanessa," he said. He walked closer to her and admired the sword. "I would tell you that it won't be painful. But it will be." He smiled a wicked grin and Vanessa felt like her body was worn out. Even if he took the spell off of her she wouldn't be able to take him. She wouldn't even be able to stand up.

He read her mind and took the spell off and kept the wicked grin on his face. "Come on Vanessa. Aren't you going to at least try to stop me?" He asked with a snicker.

Vanessa couldn't move. It was like the spell had killed her, but she was still awake.

Vanessa thought of Reid and all her friends. She loved Reid and just wanted him to be happy. She wanted him to have a life after her and she hoped that he would.

He read her mind and grinned. "Oh don't worry about him," he said. "I'll make sure to kill him once im done with you."

"No!" Vanessa managed to say and she groaned from the pain that had caused her.

"Oh yes," he said, taunting her. "And then I'll everyone else that you've ever cared about. But, I don't have to worry about your parents. Now do i?"

Vanessa could feel tears falling down her face. The pain was unbearable. Right now she just wished that he would kill her and get it over with. But she didn't want her friends to die either. She had no idea what to do!

"Please don't," she begged. Her entire body was numb now. The pain had gotten to her and talking was something that she could deal with. She would endure the pain if it meant talking him out of killing her friends. But she was doubtful that he would comply.

He enjoyed her begging. It was exactly what he had wanted. It was a shame that she couldn't read his mind so that she could sense his satisfaction.

"You know what?" He finally said after watching her squirm in pain. "I'm not a very patient man so I think im going to just kill you now."

Vanessa was partly relieved because she didn't want to suffer anymore than she already was. But she knew that he was going to kill her friends. Hopefully Selene and all the other guardians out there would protect them. She had faith that they would.

He took the sword and touched her face with it. "Such a waste, really," he started to say. "Such a pretty girl."

He raised the sword above his head and brought it down to plunge it into Vanessa.

Selene and Reid were running through the forest. They didn't have any luck finding Vanessa. It seemed like she had vanished and that she wasn't here. But Selene could sense small fragments of her thoughts every now and then. They were filled with pain and torture. For a minute, she thought Vanessa was already dead. But if Vanessa was dead then she would know it. The sword would create a blinding light. They hadn't seen any light.

Reid was panting and kept running as fast as he could. Selene was right beside him and he was beginning to worry more and more by the second. Every second he wasn't looking at Vanessa was another confirmation that she was dead or dying. He couldn't bear the thought. He could feel himself suffering inside because of the thoughts were going through his head. He was still pissed at her for leaving like that. She was so stupid.

"Reid," Selene whispered.

Reid's head snapped in Selene's direction. He hoped that she had found Vanessa or some trace of her. That's all he needed. He needed some form of faith and hope.

"This way," she pointed to the right and began running in that direction.

Reid followed her and began running.

Selene slowed down as she realized how close they really were. She motioned her hand for Reid to stop.

He looked at her in confusion but she didn't say anything.

Selene was too concentration on trying to pick up the near-by thoughts. Reid's were as loud as a shot-gun. He was worrying like crazy about Vanessa. He was scared that she was really leaving him, but he was also angry for her leaving him like that. He had told her that he would fight with her. And he was upset as to why she hadn't let him. But Selene knew why. She knew that Vanessa didn't want him to get hurt, and Selene understood that.

Suddenly she started to pick up thoughts of anguish and fear. She knew right away that they were Vanessa's. She tried to figure out what was going on. Her eyes became wide when she picked up the thoughts that told her that Vanessa was with the leader. That was not a good thing. He had the sword with him and was going to kill Vanessa himself. Selene couldn't believe it, but it was true.

"We've got to hurry," she told Reid and began running. If they continued to run at this rate then they would get to Vanessa and the leader within a matter of five minutes. Selene just hoped with all her might that it would be enough time. She didn't know what she would do if they were too late. She knew that he would take Vanessa's powers from the sword and use them to kill both Selene and Reid. Now Selene understood as to why Vanessa didn't want Reid going near the war. She knew that Vanessa knew that he would end up dying. Selene's sympathy went out for Vanessa. She couldn't imagine carrying that through out her relationship with Reid.

They were running and running until Selene came to a complete stop. Standing about 7 yards in front of her, was The Leader and something on the ground. It was Vanessa, she knew it right away. She could now sense Vanessa's emotions better now. She knew that Vanessa had been through an enormous amount of pain.

Selene picked up on Reid's thoughts. He was planning on running out there and using his powers to kill the Leader. Selene pitied him. He had no idea what the Leader was capable of. But she admired his bravery, even though he was extremely naïve.

"Reid…" Selene began. But it was too late. He had made up his mind and Selene could feel him start to move in the direction of the other two people.

Her hand immediately flew into the air and made Reid freeze on the spot. His body was still standing and Selene regretted it a little. But she had a plan. One that was only going to work if he didn't let the Leader know that they were there. If he knew, then there was no telling what would happen. Except for the fact that they would all be dead.

Selene wondered if he would pick up on her thoughts but tried to tell herself that he would be too preoccupied with Vanessa that he wouldn't care about anyone else. She knew that his armies weren't going to show up if he had. He was too powerful and she knew that he thought that they would only get in his way.

Selene knew that her army wasn't going to show up either. She had gotten a call earlier saying that it was like they were all under a spell. They were asleep. Selene knew that they wouldn't wake up until Vanessa was dead and it was too late. She also knew that The Leader had put them under the spell. He was so powerful that sometimes even Selene couldn't imagine fighting him.

"_He's only got one shot,"_ Selene thought to herself.

Vanessa braced herself from the pain that she was about to feel. She could already imagine the feeling of the cold metal tearing through her body. The sharp impact was what she was waiting for. She was waiting for the death that she accepted at this moment. She knew it would be end for her people, but she didn't have much of a choice here. She would have fought on a normal day, but it wasn't exactly a normal day. Vanessa told herself that her body was paralyzed…or at least temporarily paralyzed. The pain that she had endured only moments ago had done something to her. She wasn't sure if it was still a spell, but sort of hoped it wasn't. She knew that if she died then the spell would be wiped away. That would mean that she would feel every bit of pain that the sword caused her.

While her powers would be stripped away from her body she would be feeling the sharp tip of the sword. What every girl wanted on her birthday, right?

Her powers weren't working. With the small amount of strength that she had, she had tried to lift a small twig with her mind. It hadn't worked and she felt like the whole situation was hopeless. She wondered how it would have been different if the army had been with her. Maybe even Selene would have made a difference.

Then, Vanessa sensed something. She sensed that Selene was near by. She quickly tucked the thought in the back of her mind so that in case it was true, the Leader couldn't get to it. That was the last thing she needed. Watching Selene die wasn't what she wanted. If anyone died she knew that it had to be herself.

Vanessa watched as the silver blade was coming down upon her. It seemed like it was going in slow-motion and she wished it wasn't. There was nothing better than seeing a sharp blade coming at you.

She took in a sharp breath. Her last and it was a good one. That much she knew. It seemed to be filled with life. She began getting flash-backs of all her good memories.

_Flashback_

"_What's that mommy?" Vanessa asked her mother._

"_It's just a story book, sweet-heart."_

"_Why is it so big?"_

"_Because its for your daddy and I to read," her mother explained._

"_Can I read it?" Vanessa asked as she pouted her lips and twirled a finger in her hair._

"_When you get older you can," her mother told her._

_Vanessa frowned and folder her arms over her chest and stormed out of the room._

_Her mother sighed and opened up the book. What her daughter didn't know was that would become her life book some day. It was a shame that her daughter was going to carry such a heavy destiny._

_End Flashback_

That was the first time Vanessa had ever seen the book that contained her prophecy. She started to remember the first time she had read it.

_Flashback_

_Vanessa snuck into her parents room when they were out, eating dinner. She pulled the big book from the shelf and walked over to their bed._

_  
She sat down and opened it up. She began reading and looked at all the strange symbols that were in the book. _

_Vanessa read it out loud._

"_On the heir's eighteenth birthday, she will be in the middle of a war. A war that has been brewing over centuries. The blade of the sword will pierce her chest and her powers will be drained of her and be put into the sword. The Dark Leader will take her powers and the dark side will be stronger than ever. _

_The heir will fall in love and he will risk his life to save her. He will fail and be eternally depressed. Because she died, he will drive himself to the state of insanity and kill himself. Both lovers will wallow in the underworld."_

_Vanessa scrunched up her nose and closed the book. "That was a boring story," she mumbled to herself and stormed out of her parent's room, leaving the book on the bed._

_End Flashback_

Vanessa remembered that day like it was yesterday. She could even remember what she was wearing. She had pretty good taste in clothes for an eight year old.

Suddenly, the blade seemed to be only a mere foot away from her body. The flashbacks were gone, just like her life was about to be. She wished that she had tried harder to make friends at her old school. She wished she had gone to the dances that she could have gone to. She wished she had tried that type of food that looked gross but other people said it was good. But then she realized that all of this wishing wasn't going to do anything. It wasn't going to help. In fact, it was only making things worse. She was going to be killed for crying out loud. Not only was that going to happen, but she was thinking about all the bad times in her life. She needed to stop.

Vanessa closed her eyes as the blade grew closer. She didn't want to watch it. She figured that the pain would be horrible enough.

She readied herself for the pain. She could sense that it was six inches away from her. God, this friggen slow motion shit was driving her insane.

But just as she was sure that the blade would hit her body, it didn't. Instead she felt something heavy on top of her chest. When she opened her eyes she saw that someone else was on top of her.

Her mind began to race as she wondered as to who it was. The black hair was in her face and Vanessa realized that it was Selene.

Selene had dove on top of Vanessa to take the hit of the blade. Once the blade killed one person, it could never kill again.

Vanessa was free to live on her life, and Selene had sacrificed herself.

The Leader screamed out in anger and disappeared. Vanessa knew that she hadn't seen the end of him, or at least that's what she figured.

Vanessa pulled her body out from under Selene's and looked at her. Selene was already dead. There wasn't even a hint of life in her.

The force that had been over Reid was broken and he looked around in confusion. He saw someone kneeling over a body and he began to freak out. He ran over to it and kneeled down.

A tear fell down his cheek and he didn't care. He didn't care if people saw him cry right now. The love of his life was dead and he had not been able to help.

But he looked down and realized that the dead body did not belong to Vanessa. It was Selene. She was lying dead on the ground with a sword in her chest.

Reid looked up at the person holding Selene's hand and crying. It was Vanessa.

"Vanessa," Reid muttered in disbelief. He was so glad that she was alright.

Vanessa looked up at Reid and sniffled a little. Hearing his voice had frightened her a little and put her in a state of shock. She hadn't expected him to be there.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him in a hushed tone.

Well, that wasn't exactly what Reid had been expecting for her to say. But all of a sudden he forgot the fact that she had ran away from him and that she had written him that letter.

"Looking for you," he told her in the same hushed whisper.

"How did you find me?"

"Selene came and got me."

The sound of her name made Vanessa cry harder and Reid embraced her in a tight hug. She nuzzled her head into his chest and let the tears keep falling down her face.

Reid realized that saying her name probably didn't help. He made a note not to say anything.

Vanessa began to cry harder and Reid tried to help. "Shh…." He told her. "It's alright. It's all over now Vanessa."

She calmed down a little. But the fact that Selene was now dead, she couldn't get past that. The only family that she had left was dead. It seemed to her that people around her kept dying. But part of her believed what Reid had said. Maybe it was all over. Maybe she didn't have to worry anymore.

The two sat there, next to Selene's body. Vanessa was in Reid's arms, crying. Reid was trying to comfort her. And for a moment, they forgot about the world. They finally had each other and they both knew that it was over. It really was over.

**A:N// okay so I gave you two chapters in one day. I just feel bad for not updating as soon as I should have. Im not sure, but I might post another one today. But I shall take a break for a bit. There will be one more chapter and then that's it! Ah. Please review you guys!!!!**


	25. Chapter 25

**So I was sitting at my computer and poking around on myspace when I realized that I was bored out of my skull! Then I realized I had one more chapter to do. I do realize that this is the last chapter and that it's been a while. But I just got back from my little vacation yesterday. Okay…so here it is!**

It had been a week since Vanessa's birthday. Selene's body had been carried out of the forest and taken by some of the people that Vanessa only knew as trainers and other things. She had no idea what had been done to Selene's body. But every time she thought about it, she imagined it being her body. It wasn't supposed to be this way. It was supposed to be Vanessa's body that was being carried out of the woods, not Selene's.

Of course Reid felt bad for Vanessa, but she could see the happiness in his eyes. He was so happy that she was alive and with him. She was happy too. But the fact that Selene was dead was too much for her. She looked upon the matter like it was her fault.

Reid wanted Vanessa to stop thinking about that night. So while she had been sulking in her room, he had asked Kate and Sarah to help him plan a surprise birthday party for her. He was a little iffy about it because he wasn't sure how she was going to react. He wondered if she would be upset because the fact that it was celebrating her birthday might bring back bad memories. But either way, he was doing it and he was going to try his hardest to make sure that she had a good time.

It was the night of her surprise party and Kate and Sarah were in Vanessa's room, helping her get ready.

"Why are we dressing up again?" Vanessa asked.

"Because we're taking you out to Nicky's," Sarah said.

Of course, Vanessa could have just read Sarah and Kate's mind. But she didn't like using her powers anymore. Not to mention she was too busy sulking. She was good at that now.

"But I don't want to go out," Vanessa protested with a whine.

"Too bad." Kate and Sarah looked at each other and tried to hide their grins.

Vanessa was too busy to notice. She was looking at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was curled and the girls had talked her into wearing a red dress. It was very form-fitting. She knew that she would have never worn this dress to Nicky's on a regular day. But Kate and Sarah had convinced her that tonight was different. Special, they had said.

"Fine. I'm ready." Vanessa turned around from the mirror and let her hands drop by her sides.

Kate and Sarah grinned. "Reid won't be able to keep his hands off of you!" Sarah squealed.

At this, Vanessa let a small smile appear on her face.

To her, Reid had been great over the past week. He didn't make her talk about it and he gave her space when she needed it. Of course, sometimes he would get a little impatient and try to get her to go out or something. But it wasn't her fault that she didn't want to go anywhere. The only thing that she had known as a parent, aside from her own, had just died for her. She tried to explain to him how upsetting and depressing that really was.

Then Reid had gone and given her a speech. He told her that Selene wouldn't want her sulking around. "Why do you think she died for you? She wanted you to live a full life full of fun," he had said.

"Okay let's go," Kate said as she grabbed the keys to Sarah's car and headed out the door.

Vanessa didn't say anything but she walked out the door. Kate and Sarah knew some of the details of what had happened. So they were sympathetic towards Vanessa.

"Perk up Vanessa!" Sarah tried. "Tonight's going to be fun."

Vanessa didn't get why the girls were trying so hard to get her to perk up and everything. All week they hadn't tried this hard. But Vanessa shrugged the thoughts off and got into the back seat of Sarah's car.

While the girls drove to Nicky's, they seemed to be talking to Vanessa, or to each other. Vanessa wasn't really sure. She just looked out the window.

Then she thought about what Reid had said to her. And for once, she was admitting to herself that he was right. Selene wouldn't want her sulking around. But partying it off just didn't seem right either.

Vanessa was pulled out of her thoughts but the car stopping and Kate and Sarah getting out of the car. Vanessa looked up and looked around, realizing that they were at their destination. She got out of the car and took in a deep breath.

"Okay, let's go," Vanessa said as she tried to put on a smile. Kate and Sarah linked arms with her as they walked inside. "I still think I'm too dressed up to be going to Nicky's," Vanessa tried to argue.

Kate and Sarah just laughed as they walked into Nicky's.

Vanessa wasn't really paying attention when they walked inside, but a loud scream made her look.

"SURPRISE!!!" a choir of people all yelled out once Vanessa was inside Nicky's.

She smiled but raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Anyone mind telling me what the surprise is?" She asked as she let out a small chuckle.

"Well we never got to celebrate your birthday," Sarah explained.

"So we figured that it was better late than never," Kate finished Sarah's sentence for her.

Vanessa kept her smile on her face, but all she wanted to do was wipe it away. The word birthday made her have flash-backs to the night of her birthday. But she shook her head and made her smile more real than fake.

Reid walked over to Vanessa and wrapped his arm around her.

"So this is what you've been up to all week?" She asked him with a raise of her eyebrows.

"Pretty much," Reid confessed.

Vanessa grinned as she looked up at him and gave him a kiss.

She looked around that everyone was here. There was Caleb, Pogue, Tyler, Kate, Sarah, Reid and a bunch of other people that she knew from school. She wondered why they were there because she didn't really know them that well. But she was glad that they were. She hoped that for the rest of the school year that she could get to be friends with them. It would actually be the first time that she could have friends without anything to worry about. It was a really nice change. But the price had been high.

"Sooo…," Vanessa said rather slowly. "Where's my cake?" She grinned and clapped her hands together.

Reid laughed and walked her over to a table that had a really big cake on it. The frosting was white and had lots of swirls and everything. In blue icing there were the words 'Happy Birthday Vanessa' written on it in a cursive writing.

"Aw! Thank you baby," Vanessa cooed to Reid and she gave him another kiss right on the lips.

He grinned. "Maybe I'll just have to buy you cakes more often."

She rolled her eyes playfully at him. "You can't do that," she explained. "Cake is only a one time thing there bucko."

Everyone laughed and Kate handed Vanessa a big knife so that she could cut the cake.

"Okay well I'm warning you that the pieces will be very un-even if you let me cut it," she pointed out as she held the knife in her hand. "So don't say I didn't warn you." Once again, everyone laughed.

"Well then why don't you let a man take over," Reid said with a smirk.

Vanessa pointed the knife at him and tried to look serious. "Back off buddy." She tried not to laugh but she ended up letting a small laugh escape her lips.

Reid threw his hands up in the air in defeat and took a step back.

Vanessa laughed and licked some frosting off of her fingers as she handed out a couple pieces that she managed to cut in decent pieces.

After making his point, Reid took another step forward while he helped Vanessa hand out the pieces.

Once the cake was cut and handed out Vanessa took her piece of cake and walked over to a table where all of her friends were sitting.

"This is really good cake," Vanessa said as she put a bite into her mouth.

"I made it," Reid announced with a grin full of cake.

Kate and Sarah gave him looks of disgust while Caleb rolled his eyes. Tyler and Pogue simply tried to hold back their chuckles.

"No you didn't," Vanessa insisted. "You can't cook for shit."

"And how do you know that? You've never seen me cook," Reid said.

"Well let's just say that for someone who eats kids' cereal for breakfast, I don't get the feeling that you spend time in the kitchen doing the actual cooking," Vanessa pointed out.

Reid acted defeated as he hung his head low and took another bite of his cake.

Vanessa laughed set her plate of cake down on the table.

"Don't worry Reid," Vanessa said. "I'm sure that next year you can take some cooking classes or something," she pointed out.

This caught his attention and he looked up. "Like hell I will!"

They all laughed and Tyler slapped Reid on the back.

"You won't cook for me?" Vanessa asked as she pouted her lip and batted her eyelashes.

Reid looked at her to make sure she was kidding. He couldn't believe that she was actually saying this. "Are you serious?" He asked.

A grin appeared on her face. "Of course I'm serious."

"Look at it like an act of love," Kate pointed out.

Reid shot her a death glare. There was no way that he was going to learn to cook. He was a guy. He didn't cook. Reid hoped that Vanessa was just kidding. Hell, she better be.

"I'm not learning to cook," he told them as he leaned back in his chair.

"Oh don't worry," Vanessa said as she took another bite of her cake. "I have my ways," she told him in a seductive tone.

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Well they better be damn good ways."

Everyone laughed and finished up their cake. It really was good cake.

For a while they just sat there and talked. Twenty minutes later everyone got up and danced around. Reid was supposively too cool to dance, or so he claimed.

"Fine, then I'm sure that Tyler will dance with me," Vanessa said as she began to walk away to find Tyler.

"Oh no you don't." Reid caught her arm and swung her around so that she was right against him.

She grinned and wrapped her arms around his waist. "So your gonna dance with me?" She asked in a hopeful tone as she grinned up at him.

Reid didn't say anything. He just looked into her eyes, which pretty much just said it all.

Vanessa grabbed his hand and pulled him out onto the dance floor. "You better be a good dance," She called out to him over the music.

"Please," he said like he was so cool. "I'm the best dancer at Spencer's."

Vanessa looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Oh really?" 

"Really," he confirmed as he pulled her close.

Even though it was a fast paced song, they were dancing like it was a slow tune.

Reid looked into her eyes. "So are you having fun tonight?"

"You know what," Vanessa began to say. "I actually am." She smiled up at him.

"That's good. To be quite honest, I wasn't so sure how you were going to react to this."

Vanessa didn't say anything. She knew why he had been nervous. Hell, she would have been nervous too if she had known about it. Good thing it had been a secret.

"I wanted to make tonight perfect for you," Reid spoke up.

She smiled at him and rested her head against his chest. "You already did."

The rest of the night was indeed, perfect. People were happy and Vanessa forgot about everything that she had been through those past few months. She wished that everyday could be like today, but knew that she and her friends would have to get back to reality eventually. It was just approaching too rapidly for her taste.

But who ever said that reality couldn't be tampered with?

**The End**

**A:N// I hope you guys liked the ending! I want to thank everyone who kept up with me through out my entire time that I wrote this. To be honest, I hadn't planned on there being a party for Vanessa. I had no idea how I really wanted to end it. I had been thinking Selene's funeral…but that would be too depressing. Okay well there it was!!! Now, I know you all love me & my story tons. And that is why your going to review!!!**

**I do have a soundtrack for the story that I will post in the morning. I Just have to find the list of songs that I wrote down a while ago. Its somewhere in my room…haha yeah. **

**Read and Review!!!**


	26. Soundtrack and Important Notice!

**Within Temptation Soundtrack**

The River by Good Charlotte

Sexy Lady by Shaggy

Bring me to life by Evanescence

Slow Down by Aly & Aj

Stolen by Dashboard Confessional

Pressure by Paramore

Out of Control by Hoobastank

Long Time Coming by Oliver James

Breathe me by Sia

Dangerous to Know by Hilary Duff

Hopeless Love by Daphne Loves Derby

Who's that girl by Hilary Duff

Black Roses Red by Alana Grace

Bliss by Hinder

Fully alive by Flyleaf

Never there by Strata

Open wounds by Skillet

Headstrong by Trapt

Harder Everyday by Ashlee Simpson

Tuesday Morning by Michelle Branch

Stand my Ground by Within Temptation

24 by Jem

Thanks for the Memories by Fall Out Boy

Okay so that actually took me a few days to find. But here it is! I'm going to attempt writing another story. Only it wont be a Covenant fanfic. It's going to be a Supernatural fanfic! One of my new obsessions…

And I really wanted to have a RPG (Role-Play Group) for this story. And it's not going to be wicked serious unless I have really serious RPers. So even if you've never RPed before that's alright! If your interested then just leave a review on this chapter or on my Supernatural Fic once I post the first chapter. I really really want this to happen you guys!

Here's the info!

Oh, and a play-by is your characters face. Like, who you want to portray them.

Characters Needed:

Dean Winchester

Sam Winchester

Anne Montgomery

James Doyle

Jane Walker

Mike Teague

Character Bios:

Dean Winchester- pretty self explanatory if you've seen the show. If you haven't…then let me know because I don't really want to waste time writing out this long ass bio if everyone already knows him. But to cut it short he's Sam's older brother. He hunts Supernatural things for a living. He's the wise-ass and he's funny. He and Sam are investigating the strange murders that are happening in Arkansas.

Play-by: Jensen Ackles

Sam Winchester- Same as Dean's. Only he's younger. He's the smart one and takes things a little more seriously. A couple years ago he started to develop special abilities. He gets premonitions of people dying.

Play-by: Jared Padalekci

Anne Montgomery- One of the kids that plays the pathway along with Halley, James, Samantha and Mike. She is best friends with Halley. She goes to the same college that Halley does and works at the Diner with her. She still lives with her mother. Her father died when she was really young in a car accident. She's dating James. The rest of her bio is up to you.

Play-By: Your choice

James Doyle: One of the kids that plays the pathway. He doesn't go to college but he's still the same age as all his friends. He works at the Diner with Anne and Halley. His parents call him a disappointment because he didn't want to go to college. The rest of his bio is up to you.

Play-By: Your choice

Jane Walker: One of the kids that plays the pathway. She used to work at the Diner with Halley, Anne and James until she quit that job and got a different one. She thought that she was too good for the Diner even though she didn't tell her friends that. She's a year older than her friends. She takes some classes at the State College with Halley, Anne and Mike. Her parents think that she's perfect in every way. The rest of her bio is up to you.

Play-By: Your choice

Mike Teague: One of the kids that plays the pathway. He's the one who discovered the game. His friends ask him how he found it but he never answers. But the truth is, he doesn't even know. One day he just went onto his computer and it was on his screen. He signed up and the Pathway began to call him. He's done some pretty messed up things that his friends don't know about. Both his parents are dead and he goes to the same college as Anne, Halley and Jane. The rest of his bio is up to you.

Play-By: Your choice

Okay so if you're interested please just say you're interested and who you want to be. Or…you can message me on Halley's account on myspace.

Her URL you message me on there though, make sure the title says RPG. Thank you!!


End file.
